Emily's Firsts
by SabreDae
Summary: Short scenes from different moments of Matt and Emily's lives. Basically they're accounts of her introductions to life in the Modern World. They won't necessarily be related or in time order.
1. Video Game Wars

**A/N: This is my first Memily centric fiction. I hope you all like it and are generous enough to review. I have a few more scenes planned but I would love to write some of your ideas for what things Emily should be introduced to in modern day, so be sure to PM me your ideas or put them in a review. I will probably update this once a week. Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>Video Game Wars<strong>

"You're not making any sense, Matt! What do you mean use the toggle button, what toggle?" Emily demanded in a shout, never once removing her eyes from the TV screen and feeling increasingly frustrated by the mumbo-jumbo that Matt was sprouting as he instructed her on what moves to make.

"Look, Emily, just pass the controller, I'll do it," Matt replied calmly, trying his hardest not to be amused by his Victorian girlfriend's confusion.

"I thought you couldn't because of your thumb," Connor mumbled.

No-one took any notice of him, and Emily yelled over the top of him anyway.

"No! I have to beat Connor!" She had clearly been bitten by the computer game competitive bug. "Ah! Now look what you made me do!" She yelled in annoyance at the fact that Connor had just shot her, taking one of her lives. "Just stop distracting me, Matt!"

Matt ducked under one of her flailing hands that almost slapped his face, and thought seriously, _Letting Connor introduce her to video games was a big mistake. She might have been alright with some simple logic, puzzle, strategy type game, but not Assassins Creed: Brotherhood._

Abby glanced over at him from the sofa, looking up from her magazine as if to say, 'what can you do?' before returning to the article about Victoria Beckham's new daughter's name, scoffing slightly at the stupidity of it. She had long ago grown accustomed to Connor's geeky attraction to computer games. She now knew everything there was to know about Star Wars even though she'd only actually seen 'A New Hope.'

In fact, it could be considered Abby's fault that Emily had begun playing the game in the first place. Firstly she'd invited the rest of the team round to the flat that she and Connor shared with Jess, under the ruse of catching up over a cup of tea, whilst she actually wanted to nudge Jess and Becker into a relationship. When Matt and Emily had arrived, they'd found no sign of Jess _or _Becker, only Abby already reading her copy of 'More!' and Connor in the process of switching on his Xbox 360. The second reason that Matt marked Abby as the guilty party in Emily's demise, was that she refused point blank to play any game with Connor, leaving him begging Matt, who, likewise, was quick to invent a broken thumb.

Not knowing what she was letting herself in for, Emily had agreed to play as long as the rules were explained to her. But it had been a massive shock for her to discover that there were no rules, only a free-for-all game where she had to battle it out against Connor and a host of computer controlled characters. For almost an hour, Matt had been listening to the steady sound of pattering feet, as Connor and Emily directed their players into runs, and the harsh screams of death.

Suddenly Connor was on his feet and doing a victory dance whilst Emily threw her control onto the floor, where it slid underneath the cabinet holding the TV.

"It's only a video game, Emily," Matt said consolingly, reaching out a hand to stroke her cheek.

"But I lost," she replied quietly, almost as if she was in shock.

"Not for long. How about a double's tournament Connor?"

"You're on," he said, already searching through the menu for Alliance, the co-op mode. "Come on, Abby, on the floor." He patted the space beside him and, with a huff, she left her magazine open on the arm of her chair and sat down cross-legged.

Matt retrieved Emily's controller and handed it to her before getting his own from the cabinet. He whispered in her ear, quickly, glancing furtively out of the corner of his eye at Connor, "Connor's mine, just avoid Abby and Connor and I'll deal with them."

"Oi, what're you two whispering about?" Connor asked loudly.

"Nothing," Emily replied, straight-faced although she wanted nothing more than to smile.

As the game started, he kept a close watch on the small indicator in the corner of his screen which told him how close he was to his target. He was gunning for Connor's player, Viceroy. Forcing his player to leap onto the fabric roof of a circus like tent, he ran across, the padlock flashing above Viceroy's head. Matt jumped off the edge, landing on Viceroy and stabbing him in the neck with his dagger just for good measure.

"What?" Connor complained. "No fair! Abby get Matt, get him!"

But after playing the game for an hour, Emily had begun to build up some expertise, and as Abby searched for Matt, her tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth due to her concentration, Emily tailed her player, FandanGo, waiting for the opportune moment. Matt was running desperately from Abby, when Emily did it. She dived onto FandanGo, killing him instantly.

Matt laughed and pulled Emily into his arms whilst she grinned sheepishly, slightly amazed at her success with modern technology.

Connor grumbled and got to his feet, leaving the room to sulk in his and Abby's room.

Back at home, Matt was still talking excitedly about Emily's victory.

"I mean, did you see Connor's face?"

"Yes, Matt, I did."

"He thought he was certified to win against you!"

"I'm not much of a Victorian woman anymore, am I?" She asked, seeming both amused and downhearted by the revelation.

"No, but you're my perfect woman," Matt murmured into her neck, as he hugged her once more, kissing and nuzzling her soft skin.

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><p><strong>AN: Well, how did I do? What did you think?**


	2. There's Nothing Fast About It

**A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed chapter one. I'm so, so sorry that this hasn't been updated for a while. I have had no internet connection since 13/08/11. This idea was prompted by messersmontana. I hope you all like it. And keep those prompts coming!**

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><p><strong>There's Nothing Fast About It<strong>

"Robert Anderson! You come here right this minute!" Emily shouted up the stairs. Her hand tightly gripped the wooden banister in anger, as her six year old son's head tentatively peaked around the corner of two adjoining walls at her. "Now!"

Robert swallowed his fear, and meekly walked down the blue carpeted stairs towards his mother, who was a very frightening woman when she was angry.

"Would you mind telling me why you decided it was okay to cut up your sister's dresses, Robert?"

He mumbled something, refusing to meet her glare.

"What?"

"You said we couldn't go to McDonalds," he repeated louder.

"So that means you can ruin Lily's clothes, does it?"

"No," he said moodily. "But, you don't understand, Mum. All my friends go and they all have the Happy Meal toys!"

She sighed as Matt walked through, their four year old girl seated on his hip, snivelling about the destroyed green dress in her hands. "Emily, there's only one way we're going to stop hearing about McDonalds."

"No, Matt. It is a mother's job to make her children their dinner," she replied exasperatedly. They'd had the argument before. No-one appeared to understand why she was so adamant that they shouldn't eat out.

"Yeah, in the 1800s. Come on, Emily, it's one night," Matt replied gently, placating her.

"Fine."

An hour later the family of four were seated on red and yellow leather stools. Robert and Lily were enthusiastically digging into their Happy Meal chicken nuggets whilst Matt popped chip and chip into his mouth, stopping only to dip them into his tomato ketchup. He paused to look up at Emily's glum face and took her hand.

"What's the matter?" he asked quietly.

She shook her head and refused to reply. So far she hadn't touched her French fries or her cheeseburger. Likewise, the portion of onion rings Matt had bought for them to share was only being eaten by him.

"Emily, please tell me what it is."

She sighed and replied in an almost whisper, "I am never going to be a proper 21st Century woman."

"Good."

"What?" Emily asked in confusion. She was sure she must have misheard him.

"I said good. I don't want you to be a 21st Century woman; I want you to be you."

His eyes were filled with only love as Emily leant across the table, kissed him quickly and whispered, "So why is it called fast food? There's nothing fast about it. You have to wait an age to get it because there are so many people."

Matt chuckled quietly and answered her with, "Just eat your burger."

Warily, Emily picked it up between her fingers and took a small bite. Reassured that it was safe to eat, she took another larger mouthful. After she'd finished off the burger she ate the leftover onion rings and then started on the French fries. She was almost unaware of exactly how much she'd eaten, until, finally, she ate the last of the French fries that Lily couldn't manage to finish.

Matt was looking at her with a mixture of shock and amazement on his face.

"Urgh, those onion rings are not agreeing with me," she groaned.

"I'm not so sure it was the onion rings and not the fact that you've just eaten enough to feed a small country," Matt muttered under his breath, restraining a laugh. Emily, however, heard him and lightly smacked his arm.

"Why did I do it?" She asked as they left and walked towards the silver Volvo that belonged to them. "Oh, I'm _so_ full. I feel a little sick actually."

The car ride was not a pleasant experience for her. The vibrating chair very nearly set off her precarious stomach. When they rumbled to a stop outside their house, she bolted from the car, not bothering to shut the car door, and hurriedly unlocked the cherry-red front door that was so inconveniently in her way.

Matt found her in the bathroom. Just as he walked in she moved from kneeling on the fin front of the toilet to leaning against the side of the bath, her head resting on the rim. Looking down at her, he saw the slight sheen of sweat coating her forehead.

"Remind me never to eat fast food ever again."

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><p><strong>AN: I'd love to know what you thought of this chapter so please review!**


	3. Oh! A Cooking Magazine!

**A/N: This one I thought of this week and was desperate to write so I hope you like it as much as I do. It's set during series four before Emily returns to the Victorian era and so it's before any kind of relationship really develops, just so you know. Anyway, enjoy and don't forget to review.**

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><p><strong>Oh! A Cooking Magazine!<strong>

Matt parked the car and turned to look at Emily, wondering vaguely if he ought to prep her for her first visit to the supermarket before deciding that she could cope. She had after all been in the modern world for two weeks now.

Emily opened the door and, looked left and right like an excited puppy being introduced to its new home, before she stepped forwards. A car swerved around the corner, narrowly missing her, and the bald, angry driver stuck his middle finger up at her.

Emily gasped and said loudly, "Well I never! The cheek of it!"

"Forget about it, Emily," Matt muttered, knowing she was seriously contemplating following the man and 'giving him a piece of her mind' as she called it. It unnerved Matt slightly that he barely knew Emily Merchant and yet he felt like he knew her better than he knew anyone. He _knew _he was falling for her. For her beauty, her vulnerable side that was so well hidden beneath her hard exterior (something he was sure only he had had the privilege to see) and he knew that he was practically plummeting towards solid concrete for her wit. The very first time he had seen her, just about to go through the anomaly, he had been captivated, entranced by her whimsical speech and her smooth movements.

And now, she was the only person he knew he could trust.

"Come on, we've got shopping to get," Matt said louder and pulled her forwards slightly until she began moving. He stooped to pick up a basket with green plastic handles as they went through the sliding doors at the front of the shop and then continued on, leading the way whilst Emily stopped to look at the flowers displayed by the entrance, as he knew she would.

"Matt, look! Tulips! I love tulips."

"That's great, Emily, but we came here for food, remember?" Matt walked further forwards and down the aisle with the newspapers, not sparing the glossy covered magazines one look. Matt didn't buy magazines. What did celebrity gossip matter to him when it wouldn't help him save the world from the terrifying fate it was getting closer to? He was too busy searching for his weekly paper to notice what Emily was up to, but he looked up at her loud gasp and prudish blush.

"Oh my!"

She was holding one of the magazines in her hands and staring in horror at something written on the cover. Upon closer inspection Matt saw exactly what it was and stifled a smirk. In bold on the cover of the magazine were the words, '101 Sex Tips.' He gently tugged the magazine out of her hands and replaced it on the shelf.

"I don't think you'll like Cosmopolitan. In fact I don't think you'll like any of these magazines," he said, pointing at the women's ones.

She nodded numbly and Matt returned to his search, triumphantly holding the paper aloft when he found it. It was the last in stock and he barely noticed the blurred picture of a Labyrinthodont on the front of the paper. He was too busy staring wide-eyed at Emily getting closer to the men's mags.

She reached out and picked up a copy of 'Nuts' and declared, "Oh! A cooking Magazine!"

Matt looked around desperately, but it was too late. People were already turning their heads to look, drawn by the sound of Emily's voice.

There was only one thing for it. Matt dropped his basket and the newspaper and ran over to Emily. He grabbed the magazine from her hands where she was looking in horror at the naked woman and tucked it to his chest so no-one could see it.

"You're right, Honey. We've been wanting this one all week, haven't we, Dear?" He said loudly to get the attention of everyone else. He pulled Emily tight to his body, one hand on her shoulder and steered her towards the basket. She was too numb to struggle or protest against his terms of endearment or his hand on her shoulder.

"Eh? I could have sworn I saw Gemma Merna…" One middle aged man said in bewilderment.

"Matt? I don't think it's a cooking magazine."

"I know," he hissed as he picked up his newspaper and basket from the floor. "Just play along."

He pulled her out of the aisle, still talking at the top of his voice about what recipes were in the magazine. Finally when they were out of sight and earshot, he deposited the magazine on another shelf.

"I don't think I like magazines, Matt," Emily mumbled in a state of horrified shock.

"Don't worry about it, Emily," he replied, running his hand up and down her arm just as they entered the refrigerated section. "We'll get you some chocolate and then you'll feel better."

"Jess says that chocolate can cure anything…"

"Does she?"

Emily nodded slowly, her mind still struggling to block out the image from the front of the magazine.

"Why don't you ring her and ask her to recommend some?" Matt asked hoping Jess would be able to sort Emily out.

"Okay…" Matt pulled out his mobile phone and searched for Jess' number in his phones book before dialling it and handing it over to the brunette still tucked into his side.

He took his arm away and wandered over towards the take away dishes to see if there was a good curry he could get for Emily. He was sure she wouldn't have ever had one before.

"Hello? Matt?" Jess asked at the other end of the phone when no-one said anything.

"Jess…" Emily said.

"Emily? Is that you?"

"Yes, it is. Matt wants to know what chocolate to get," Emily said, her voice sounding incredibly small. That coupled with her unfocused eyes made a strange picture which caused anyone walking down that aisle in the supermarket to swerve to avoid going near her.

"What? Where are you, Emily?" Jess asked, not quite understanding why Matt wanted to know what chocolate she usually bought.

"In the supermarket."

"Does Matt want the chocolate for you?" Jess asked, still trying to determine a picture of what was going on. It was like asking a child questions and Jess could feel her voice taking on that patronising tone that a stranger would use with a small child.

"Mm hmm."

"Emily, are you okay?"

"Ye-No," she replied, making a small choking sound mid-sentence as she changed her mind.

"What's happened?"

"Magazines…"

At the other end of the phone, Jess turned to look at Abby in confusion. Abby shrugged her shoulders and leaned closer to the phone to hear better what the Victorian woman was saying.

"Magazines?"

"Dirty magazines," clarified Emily, with a disapproving shake of her head. It was a disturbing memory she was going to have for life.

"Can you put Matt on the phone?"

Emily handed the phone to Matt, who leant his head against his shoulder to free his hands.

"Hello?"

"Matt, why is Emily talking about dirty magazines?" Jess demanded, sounding highly amused.

Matt shot a glance at Emily who was simply waiting by his side with the same blank look as before. "She may have picked up a copy of 'Nuts'," he replied.

"Ohh. That's what happened. I haven't been able to get any information out of her. It was like talking to a brick wall. Why do you need to know what chocolate to buy?"

"I thought it might help perk her up," Matt said, feeling slightly helpless.

"I think she needs a paper bag more than that, Matt!" Jess said jokingly.

"You're not helping, Jess! I don't know what to do!"

"Alright. Get her a selection box of Thornton's, some of the ones with strawberry fillings ought to do it. Take her home, run her a bath, and give her some alcohol for the love of God."

"Thanks Jess. You're a life saver," Matt said, releasing a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"I don't think she was in danger of death but I know what you mean. I'll see you tomorrow," she replied before hanging up.

"Come on, Emily," Matt murmured as he put his phone back in his jeans pocket. But the only way to get her to move was to pull her by the hand, so they walked around the shop, Matt towing Emily slightly until they got to the chocolate. Matt grabbed the biggest box of Thornton's he could find and threw it into the basket and then hurried to the alcohol aisle. But that was where it got harder. He had no idea what Emily would like to drink. She'd be used to wine and possibly champagne, he thought, but anything else was unlikely. In the end he picked up a bottle of wine and a bottle of peach snapps that he could mix with the lemonade he had in the fridge at home in case she wanted something sweeter.

After that he dragged her to the till and paid the woman the thirty pounds and then gave Emily a carrier bag to carry, took one himself and pulled her by the hand from the shop.

Thankfully, getting her into the car turned out to be easier than Matt had thought it would be. She seemed to be regaining her senses slightly and was able to get in without Matt telling her to, although he did have to do her seatbelt.

Matt drove away slowly, continually shooting anxious glances at Emily all the way back to his flat.

When they got home, he unlocked the door and led her in. He sat her on the sofa and left the shopping in the kitchen before going to run the bathwater. When the white china bath was filled halfway, even topped with some bubbles, he returned to the living room where Emily was still stiffly sitting on the sofa, looking as if she hadn't moved at all. He grabbed the chocolates and poured some of the wine into a glass for her and took those through to the bathroom.

"Emily, come here a minute," he called, wishing she would come. He was in luck and she shuffled into the bathroom in a few minutes. "I've, erm, run a bath for you and got you something to drink and a little treat." He held the chocolates up so she could see them and then stood from his kneeling position by the bath.

He slipped past her and only hoped she would be able to undress herself, before collapsing on the sofa.

"I'm never taking her shopping again," he mumbled into the cushion his face was planted in.


	4. Wisps of Breath

**A/N: I'm not really sure about this first so I'd love to know what you think. I'm still looking for prompts. I've got a few more ideas up my sleeve, but not many. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review. **

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><p><strong>Wisps of Breath<strong>

"The Lion's Head," Emily read out. From the outside, the pub certainly looked more respectable than some of the taverns during her time. Not that she really knew what they'd been like. Women weren't allowed in: it was deemed to be too dirty for the so called morally superior women. Of course, the prostitutes were in there all the time, but upper class girls like Emily had had to be 'protected' from the unscrupulous reputations of taverns.

"Yeah, we come here all the time," Becker said with a reminiscent smile.

"Well if you're sure I'll fit in," she replied uncertainly.

"Emily, we wouldn't have invited you if we didn't want you to come. You need to get out of Matt's flat sometime."

"I suppose you're right, Jess."

"I am, so let's just go inside and order some drinks," the young field coordinator replied, taking the lead and pushing open the burgundy front door.

Becker muttered in an undertone to Emily, "You'll get used to her bossy ways."

"I heard that!" Jess called back to him.

"Whoops." Becker's smirk made even Emily smile gently.

"Are you two coming in or are you going to stand out in the street all evening?"

"Keep your heels on, Jessica, we're just coming." Becker rolled his eyes but walked forwards all the same and stepped into the dimly lit pub. Emily followed him warily, her eyes revolving so she could look left and right. A group of balding men were sat at the bar with pints of beer. Each of them turned to watch her as she moved from the doorway to the table Jess had gotten in the opposite corner of the room. Similarly, a group of ten teenage boys observed her, their eyes appraisingly following her sinuous form. The attention rather disturbed the Victorian woman. Unaccustomed to the lecherous looks of men, due to her sheltered life, it made her quite nervous.

As she sat down at the table, Jess immediately stood up.

"I'm getting drinks," she announced excitably, "what do you both want?"

"I'll have a cider," Becker said, closely watching the teenagers who were now getting rowdy in what was presumably an attempt to impress Emily Merchant. It did not work, however, considering how drunk they all were, it was amazing that they could even stand.

"I'll have…" Emily stopped. She didn't even know what there was. "I'll have whatever you're having, Jess."

Jess skipped away and up to the barmaid who was cleaning glasses with a tea towel, and leaning over the bar to talk to the four middle aged men.

Becker whistled lowly. "That was brave," he commented.

"Excuse me?" Emily asked, bewildered by what he was talking about.

"Jess always has a glass of whisky to start with. She likes getting well and truly hammered and says that's the only sure fire way to do it," Becker explained, watching the auburn haired girl at the bar. Suddenly she turned and gesticulated at Becker and Emily. "Ha, she's having trouble getting served again!" Becker chuckled and made sure his head was bowed from sight when Jess returned so she couldn't see him laughing.

It didn't work. As soon as the nineteen year old sat down at the table she smacked him around the back of the head. "Stop it! Or I'll take your cider back!" Becker stopped laughing and pulled the pint of amber liquid towards him. "I wonder what time Abby and Connor will get here," she murmured as she passed Emily a tumbler half-filled with alcohol.

"They said they'd meet us here at seven. It's quarter to, so they won't be long. Unless, of course, Connor has some trouble with the car," Becker joked, still amused by the fact that Connor had only just passed his driving test. But as he spoke the words, the door opened and through it walked, Abby and Connor. Abby hurried over to the table whilst Connor went to the bar to order them drinks.

"You look nice," Jess said, looking eagerly at Abby's grey, asymmetric top.

"Thanks," Abby replied warmly as she sat down in the chair beside Emily. Connor came carrying a white wine spritzer and a pint of beer which he set down on the table. He placed the spritzer in front of his girlfriend and pulled the pint towards himself, only to find Abby's hand stopping him. "Spritzer, Connor? Really?"

"Yeah. You like white wine spritzers, remember?" He grinned cheekily at her until she relented and took a sip.

"Fine," she sighed. "But next time, you drink the spritzer."

Emily looked between them in confusion until Becker said, "Trust me and don't ask. You really don't want to know."

"Okay." Emily replied and Jess laughed lightly at the expression on her face.

As everyone around her drank, Emily picked up her small tumbler and sniffed it before taking a hesitant sip. She gasped as the swallowed alcohol burned her throat.

"Told you."

"Told her what?" Jess asked Becker interestedly.

"Nothing. He just told me not to…ask about Abby and Connor," Emily answered, thinking quickly so as not to offend one of her new friends.

Emily took another draught of her whisky, but it was still just as fiery in her mouth. She grimaced and finished the rest in one gulp to get it over with, feeling it would be impolite to not drink it when Jess had bought it for her.

"It's a shame that Matt couldn't come, isn't it?" Jess asked everyone.

Connor, Abby and Becker all murmured their assent, but Emily was actually quite glad that Matt wasn't there. She found it hard to be herself when he was there. It was hard to stop herself from just kissing him senseless, but she had to stop herself because she was married. It would be wrong for her to break her marriage vows and betray Henry, no matter how much she didn't love him. No matter how much she might have feelings for Matt Anderson.

"Well, I'm going to go and order another drink? Anyone coming?"

Emily offered to accompany Jess to the bar seeing as everyone else was still drinking their first. She leant on the bar, surveying all the different bottles and labels, wondering which one she should drink whilst Jess set about buying a bottle of wine for them all to share. Emily didn't notice one of the middle aged men approaching her. He tapped her lightly on the shoulder and she spun around, surprised.

He was a tall man, much taller than her, but he was also wide. His stomach hung out in front of him like a baby bump, just a whole lot more disgusting, and his shirt was unbuttoned at the top with his tied hanging loosely around his neck, revealing some chest hair.

"Hi, I'm Pete," he told her, holding out a large, flabby hand for her to shake. "My friends and I were wondering whether you'd like to join us."

Emily was at a loss for what to do. She politely declined, "Well it's very nice of you to offer, but I'm actually here with my friends." She pointed to Abby, Connor and Becker at their table and Pete followed her gaze.

"Right, well it's just you don't look like you're having a particularly good time with any of them…" he hedged.

"I assure you, I am."

"I couldn't help noticing though, that you're the odd one out. I mean blondie over there is clearly with that idiotic prat, and this one," he said, jerking his thumb over her shoulder to point at Jess, "is obviously with that guy. But you? You're all alone." The man had begun to slur and sway, coming closer to Emily and trapping her against the bar.

Emily had no answer for the man. The truth was he was right. Well, partially. Abby and Connor were together, and as for Jess and Becker, well it was obvious that they fancied each other.

"So what do you say?" Pete asked, coming even closer, his lips only inches from hers.

"No!"

Emily looked up in shock. Behind Pete stood Matt, looking intimidating as he stood upright in his leather jacket.

"She's with me," he continued. "So if you could step away from my girlfriend."

Pete moved away, looking over his shoulder and grumbling.

Matt moved towards Emily slowly and took her face between his gentle hands. "Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes," Emily whispered.

"Come on." Matt took her hand and led her back to the table in the corner.

"Matt!" Connor exclaimed. "I thought you had stuff to do."

"And I've done it," Matt replied patiently.

Jess returned to the table with her wine.

"Was that guy bothering you, Emily?"

"What guy?" Becker demanded, already standing up and getting ready for a fight.

"Oh, I just overheard some guy at the bar complaining about Irish guys taking 'all the fit chicks'."

"Which one was it?" Abby asked, looking over at the four men who were all staring back at the group.

"The one in the white shirt," Matt answered.

"Oh, that's why he was complaining about Irish guys."

"Yes, Jess."

"Wait," Connor said, holding his hand up. "I still don't get what's going on."

"The guy in the white shirt cornered Emily at the bar, and I politely stepped in and told him to back off," Matt replied simply, pulling up a chair from the neighbouring table and sitting down.

"Politely," Becker scoffed, knowing that Matt could be quite menacing when he wanted to be.

"Em, back me up here, please," Matt said.

"It's true. He was polite," Emily insisted instantly.

Abby and Connor both smirked.

"What?"

"Using nicknames, Matt?"

Both Emily and Matt blushed.

"Aww, look at them!" Abby crooned. "They're embarrassed."

"Duh, Abby! It's 'cause they like each other," Connor responded in a similar tone.

"And they wonder why we're not public about our feelings," Becker mumbled to Jess.

Matt groaned to Emily and muttered, "Let's just leave."

They both stood up and said hurried goodbyes before walking out the doors. Outside, Emily leaned back against the side of the pub and asked, "Are they always like that?"

"Who? Abby and Connor?"

Emily nodded, her eyes closed in quiet amusement.

"Yeah, I guess they're a bit mischievous. I don't think they'd be as bad if they weren't together," Matt answered, leaning back against the wall beside Emily.

"Thanks for saving back there, by the way."

"Oh, no problem. It was no trouble."

A silence settled between them as they breathed in the night air and watched the cars drive past.

"Why'd you say I was your girlfriend?"

"Oh, sorry, I hope you didn't mind, it was just easier."

"I didn't mind," Emily murmured quietly, her breath visible because it was almost the end of autumn. "I thought you weren't going to come tonight, so it was nice to see you."

"Emily, I…" Matt said, feeling incredibly awkward. "There's something I wanted to say to you-"

Matt never got to finish telling Emily what he had planned, before Emily turned so she was stood in front of him and stood on her tip toes to be able to reach. She pressed her lips against his and rested her hands on his chest. Responding almost instantly, Matt pulled her closer and held her around the waist. Emily pulled back, breathless from her first kiss with Matt and he led the way home, watching her breath spiral away.


	5. What Hurts The Most

**A/N: I'm obsessed with this song at the moment so that's where it came from. I'd really like to thank you for reading this. **

**It would be really helpful, though, if people could suggest some things for Emily to be introduced to. They can be events, people (as in celebrities or something), songs, films, objects...whatever really as long as it's not something that was around during Victorian times. If people don't prompt things for me, I'll probably run out of ideas and this story will have to finish early. **

**I'd really appreciate some reviews just so that I know whether you guys like the direction and style of the story so far. **

**I'll shut up now though. I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

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><p><strong>What Hurts The Most<strong>

Since arriving in the 21st century, Emily Merchant had grown to love modern music. Whilst it was wildly different to what she was used to in the Victorian Era, it entranced her soul and moved her beyond what she'd ever experienced before. She was given her first CD for Christmas as a gift from Matt. It hadn't been long since she'd returned through the anomaly, pursued by Henry. Emily hadn't expected anything from Matt; after all they were only living together and trying to ignore the feelings they both so obviously had.

Like every other person in the world, they put up their Christmas tree together and decorated it, although Emily was fascinated to find that it was fake. The fir tree was made of plastic but it still looked truly beautiful when silver baubles hung from its bough's, slowly rotating and reflecting the pale glow from the fairy lights strung around the green plant. It, however, sat bare of presents until Jess presented both Matt and Emily with brightly gift-wrapped boxes on 15th December, telling them that they weren't to open their presents till the twenty-fifth. Soon after, Abby, Connor and Becker all gave them presents too, and an exchange began, although only Lester did not think to buy anyone on the team something.

On Christmas Eve, Matt made a big show of placing something under the tree whilst Emily watched TV from the cream sofa, her chin resting on her knees that were brought up to her chest, oblivious to the fact that she had in fact hidden a present for him too.

"Just putting something under the tree," he said quietly, smiling at her.

Her eyes were drawn from the goings on of Wallace and Gromit to watch him kneel before the tree, although she made no other sign that she had seen him. As soon as he withdrew from the room, Emily raced to the tree to find the slim, square gift he had bought her. But she did not open it. She waited, consoling herself that it was only one night until she would be able to open it in front of him.

Emily woke early, lying in bed in trepidation. Matt and her were spending the day alone together, seeing as neither of them had any family to catch up with, and she didn't know what to expect. Normally they didn't spend much time in close proximity, often getting called back to the ARC for anomalies after coming home. Matt seemed to avoid her wherever possible, making some excuse and leaving which ever room she was in much of the time.

She left Matt's bedroom and wandered into the living room where he was sleeping on the sofa. It had been gracious of him to give up his bed again, Emily thought fondly, still wearing one of his shirts. Matt didn't know but Emily always slept in his shirts rather than the pyjamas that she had bought on her first shopping trip with Jess, preferring to feel as though Matt was around her. The smell of his aftershave always helped her sleep. In her eagerness for the day to start, she had forgotten to get dressed first, and whilst she had thought Matt was asleep; he was not.

He didn't comment on her choice of sleepwear, but yawned and sat up, making room for her to sit on the sofa beside him.

"Ready?" Matt asked.

Emily nodded and moved from the sofa to sit on the floor in front of the tree. Matt knelt beside her and pulled out all the presents, proceeding to sort them into two piles: one for himself and one for Emily. They were of equal number, but in Emily's pile there was a rather large box from Becker, which Matt suspected was probably some form of weaponry.

"You go first, Emily."

She debated over whether to open Matt's present first or save it till last. It was decided for her when Matt picked up the big box from Becker that was wrapped in black tissue paper, although how he'd managed to buy _black _tissue paper at Christmas was a minor miracle. It wasn't exactly a festive colour. Emily pulled the layers of paper apart and lifted the cardboard lid off the box. Inside, nestled in yet more tissue paper, lay a polished knife just like the dagger she had lost in her fight with the tree creepers. Matt laughed and picked up his own present from Becker. He had been given a tiny EMD pistol as a joke, but alongside it was a written apology from Jess.

After finding a series of sweaters and shirts from Jess, a video game from Connor and some zoo tickets from Abby, Emily reached into the pile and drew out the square present that she had found the previous night. Her fingers trembled as they dug under the sellotape and tore the red paper apart, revealing the plastic case of a CD.

"Thank you, Matt," she murmured, recognising what he had given her although she'd never owned a CD before. He smiled and took it from her, rising to put her CD into his player.

"You're welcome. It's the Rascal Flatts. I thought you might like it," he replied with a shrug of his shoulders. As the music started with the twang of guitar strings being plucked, he pulled Emily to her feet and twirled her into a dance hold. They swayed around the room, the beautiful lyrics drifting through Emily's ears in the rhapsody of being held by Matt. The words of the song struck a chord with her. It sounded exactly what Matt might have been trying to tell her, and she looked uncertainly up at him, into his clear, blue eyes. He looked steadily back at her. "Hear something?"

She nodded and, gently, his hold on her waist tightened. Into her ear, he hummed the tune of the song as the music stepped up and the chorus began.

_What hurts the most_

_Was being so close_

_And having so much to say_

_And watching you walk away_

_And never knowing_

_What could have been_

_And not seeing that loving you_

_Is what I was trying to do_

Suddenly Matt's hands were on either side of her face, each of them staring at the other. His lips touched hers in the instrumental section of the song and Emily responded, pulling him closer with the arms behind his neck.

Matt drew away and breathed, "I love you, Emily."

Her chocolate eyes softened and she brought him back towards her and began kissing him again. As the song finished, she leant her forehead against his, although the motion meant that she had to stand on tiptoe, and said, "I love you too."

Matt smiled. "Sorry for letting you walk away. I was so blind to you."

"Sorry for going."

"It doesn't matter," Matt replied quietly. "We're together now."

Emily nodded, silently agreeing with him.

"I love my present by the way. What about yours?"

"You bought me a present?" He asked in surprise.

Emily nodded and grinned mischievously.

Leaving the CD playing, Matt returned to his pile of presents and searched through the mess of ripped wrapping paper he had decimated, but found nothing. He looked up at Emily, confused, and she decided to take pity on him and retrieve the present herself. She had to lie flat on her stomach to reach the box that was so far under the tree. Matt stared open mouthed at Emily. The shirt of his she was wearing moved upwards as she stretched, revealing her underwear and the tops of her shapely thighs. Matt crawled towards and just as her fingers closed around his present, her pulled her upwards and kissed her, his hands running down her hips to her soft thighs and pulling her onto his lap.

Emily smirked against his lips. "Do you not want your present?"

Relenting his attack on her pink lips, Matt took the box from her, looking at it curiously, wondering what Emily could have bought him.

He undid the bow holding the box shut and pulled the lid off. Emily had given him a framed picture of his father, the only photo he had, the photo he had thrown away in his grief when Gideon had died.

"I hope you don't mind, but I rescued it the last time I was here. I thought you might like something to remember him by…"

Matt responded by kissing her again.

"Thank you," he whispered, his voice heavy with supressed grieving.

Emily helped him up and together they placed the photo on the mantelpiece beside the tree, where the lights shined upon him. Matt stared at it for a few moments, with Emily supporting him, an arm around his waist. She kissed his cheek and left him to mourn, then pulled one of the sweaters Jess had bought her over the top of her shirt. She smiled, as it fell down to her mid-thighs just the like the shirt underneath it. Suddenly Matt was behind her and his arms wound around her, meeting on her stomach.

"Happy Christmas, Em," he said into her ear, his warm breath lifting a curl of brown hair.

"Happy Christmas, Matt," she replied, turning to kiss him again.


	6. Beaches

**A/N: I would like to say a quick apology for skipping a couple of updates. In my defence I wasn't actually at home last weekend. Instead I was out doing my Silver Duke of Edinburgh expedition and walking 55km. And in case it's not clear, I would much have preferred to be at home writing for all you lovely people. Anyway, I'm updating now. The prompts for this chapter came from Sweets and Charades and Sarcastic Bones (I merged them together), so I'd also like to say a big thank you and I hope you like it!**

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><p><strong>Beaches<strong>

Emily Merchant was a city girl, born and raised in London, living her entire life there, even after she began her journey through the gateways. The only times she'd ever left the capital were when her father would drag them out to the countryside in the Lake District for what he called a holiday. But, despite summer being in full swing, it was always dismal, rain coming down in buckets and turning the sky a miserable, permanent grey that seemed to leak through the landscape, darkening the trees until they looked rather foreboding. Needless to say, the young Lady Merchant never used to enjoy her holidays. It would have been warmer had they just stayed in London.

Thus, when Matt mentioned something about getting away for a summer break, Emily was rather apprehensive about it. Matt Anderson, however, had the correct idea of what a holiday should be. He'd booked two train tickets down to Kent so that he and Emily could spend some time at the seaside. It was basically their honeymoon. With so many conversions, the pair hadn't been able to get the time off work to go anywhere exotic and were settling for staying in the country.

The train itself was a bit of a new experience for Emily. It was no steam train, rather the high-speed link that got them to Ashford International station in under an hour. Then they simply got a taxi to take them to St Mary's Bay. The sun was shining, reminding Emily of exactly what she was missing in the Victorian Era. She'd never remember it, but actually, when she was three her father suggested taking their summer holiday in Kent, going to Folkestone, the fashionably holiday at the time, but had been called into work at the last minute.

But for arguments sake, it was her first trip to the beach. When they stepped from the taxi, Emily could already see fine grains of sand in the car park and was eager to climb the steps in front of them and see just what a beach looked like. Like a child on Christmas day, she felt her heart beat race in excitement and led the way up the steps in her wedges, pulling Matt behind her, oblivious to the smirk on his face.

Emily stopped completely at the top step, gasping in awe. Sculpted sand ran down to the sea, which drifted forwards in gentle foaming and then retreated in perfect timing with the beating of her heart.

"You know it would have looked a lot better in your time, right?" Matt asked, referring, of course, to the effects of pollution.

Emily, whose eyes were busy staring in wonder, did not notice the slight grey tinge to the water, or the odd pieces of rubbish dotted on the sand; but Matt did.

Pretending not to him hear, Emily unhooked the sandals from her feet and tentatively placed one foot in the sand. It was warm to the touch, heated by hours in the sun, and moulded to the contours of her skin.

Matt rolled his eyes at her taking her time to enjoy the sensation of moving on sand. "Come on!" He gave her no time for an answer before he swept her feet out from under her, catching her at the knees and across her back and carrying her down the beach.

"Matt!" Emily squealed in surprise, snapped out of her awed reverie by the shock of suddenly finding herself in mid-air. Her husband carried her down the beach towards the water and then threatened to drop her in, before placing her on her feet and taking her hand.

"So what do you want to do then? A barbecue? Or go for a swim?"

"A barbecue sounds good," Emily responded, not that she had ever had one.

"Well why don't you stay here and sunbathe whilst I go up to the shop and buy everything, hmm?"

Emily kissed Matt goodbye and took the towels from the black backpack over his shoulder, spread them on the sand and found her book. She was so engrossed in reading about Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy that she didn't notice Matt's return with two heavy shopping bags.

"You're supposed to take your shirt off to sunbathe, Em," he said with good humour as he deposited the bags at her feet and threw himself onto the red towel beside her.

Emily pulled her cream shirt away from her in confusion. "And then what? Bathe naked?"

"No, didn't Jess explain? You sunbathe in your swimsuit, Emily, in your bikini."

"She might have mentioned something about that," Emily conceded, somewhat embarrassed. "Are we ready to barbecue then?" She asked, nodding towards the bags and folding the corner of her page down so she didn't lose her place.

Matt nodded and reached forwards from his kneeling position to pick up the bags. "One disposable barbecue," he said, taking it from the bag and placing it between them on the towels, then continuing to show her everything he'd bought, he listed, "one bottle of water, one bottle of ketchup, some sausages, some burgers, some buns, some tongs, two glasses and some matches."

Matt set the barbecue up a few paces away and lit it with a match then re-joined his curly-haired wife to wait for the flames to die down.

Emily rolled closer to him and laid on top of his arm which was about her shoulders.

"This is nice," Matt murmured into her ear.

"I know. The sun's so warm."

"I was actually talking about this," Matt replied, tightening his grip on her shoulder slightly.

"Oh. Well this is nice too," Emily responded, smiling at her own naivety.

Somehow they managed to fall asleep amidst the smoke of their barbecue and it was an hour later when Emily woke up with a rather dry throat.

"Matt…" she mumbled into his neck.

A soft snore was emitted from his lips whilst he continued to sleep.

"Matt!" Emily croaked more insistently.

Finally he woke up. "Yes, Em?"

"Can you get me a drink of water?"

Matt yawned and stretched as he got to his feet and wandered over to the barbecue and returned with the bottle of water and a glass. As he poured it out, bubbles rose to the surface of the plastic glass, but Emily did not notice as he eyes were resting closed against the bright sunlight overhead.

"Here you go, Em." Matt handed the glass across and laid back down.

After drinking a large mouthful, Emily hurriedly spat it out in surprise.

"What _is _that?"

Matt glanced down at the label on the bottle then back at the still fizzing water.

"Oops."

"Why oops?" Emily asked, her eyebrows raised in suspicion.

"I appear to have accidentally bought sparkling water instead of still…"

"And what, may I ask, is sparkling water?"

"Well it's still water…just with carbon dioxide in it to make it fizzy," Matt explained, looking pointedly at the bubbles in her glass.

Tentatively, Emily took another sip and found that now she was prepared for the different taste, it wasn't half bad. However the feeling of the liquid almost trying to escape from her mouth took some getting used to and it took her a while to drain the glass whilst Matt cooked their sausages and burgers. She still hadn't finished it when he brought the food over, each burger and sausage in a bun with tomato ketchup.

The barbecue made Emily feel rather full, but it was a satisfied kind of full and she and Matt fell asleep, enjoying their first trip to the beach together immensely.

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><p><strong>AN: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! It really means a lot and I would love it if you had time to leave a review for this chapter too. I'd really like to know what everyone thought. **


	7. Shopping, Surprise and Seduction

**A/N: It's kind of related to the last chapter, this little experience, and it was just begging to be written so I hope you enjoy it. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed. I'm still looking for prompts as I want to keep this going as long as possible. So far I only have ideas for 13 more chapters after this one and we can do so much more than that! So review with a prompt if you've got one! **

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><p><strong>Shopping, Surprise and Seduction<strong>

Matt threw himself into the chair in exhaustion, dropping the million carrier bags hanging off his fingers onto the floor. Agreeing to accompany Jess and Emily on a shopping trip was a definite mistake. He'd spent the better part of the morning being shunted from one shop to another whilst Jess and Emily completely ignored him, gossiping about topics only God had heard of, with Emily smiling sweetly as she handed him yet another bag.

He knew she needed to go shopping and buy some clothes – after all, she couldn't keep wearing his clothes – but he had never expected Emily to be swayed by Jess' shopaholic ways.

They'd started in 'Topshop', and Jess immediately picked up a cream blouse and a leopard print, layered skirt and wordlessly handing them over to Emily. She looked doubtfully down at them before wandering uncertainly over to the dressing room to try the ensemble on. When she came out, she was grinning.

"Matt? Could you hold on to these a moment please?"

Being courteous, Matt agreed to take the skirt and shirt whilst Emily moved around the shop with Jess, collecting jeans, dresses and shoes to try on. In just one shop, Matt ended up having to fork out £150 just for a pair of jeans, a skirt, a shirt, a pair of boots and a bangle bracelet.

Then Jess directed Emily up the department store's stairs and took her into the lingerie department. Matt's face turned bright pink when Jess asked for an assistant to help them. He didn't even want to imagine what was going on behind the closed curtain of the dressing room with the measuring tape, armful of bras and underwear.

Somehow, Jess had managed to convince Emily to get a bikini instead of a swimsuit, and encouraged her to buy ten bras and numerous pairs of knickers. Luckily there was some kind of offer on the underwear, but he had to pay £100. Matt was seriously beginning to worry that Jess and Emily were going to bankrupt him at this rate.

Four shops later, he was down by over £500 pounds and carrying seven bags.

"I need a coffee," he muttered, abandoning the two girls with two hundred pounds in cash and crossing the street to go to Costa.

Meanwhile, Emily continued shopping with Jess.

"Oh, this would really suit you!" Jess declared holding up a pale pink asymmetric dress.

Emily's eyes lit up and she took the dress excitedly from her new friend to go and try it on. It was a perfect fit, floating around her knees and drawing out the pink in her cheeks.

Jess sighed happily when Emily came out to show her and gushed, "You have to get it!"

But Emily had suddenly noticed the absence of Matt and wondered whether she could really justify spending £70 on a single dress that she was unlikely to ever have need to wear.

"Where would I wear it?"

"Anywhere. This dress has so many uses, Emily. Weddings. Nights out. Restaurants. Seduction."

Emily blushed at the thought of wearing the dress purely for the benefit of seducing someone, and unbidden the image of Matt trapped on the sofa by one her feet, with his hand on her bare calf just below the hemline of the very dress she was wearing leapt into her mind.

When Matt asked what she had bought when they joined him for a slice of carrot cake and a cup of tea, Emily didn't show him any of her purchases and rattled off a list of items of clothing with little description.

"Aren't you forgetting about the d-" Jess interrupted, stopping abruptly at the wide eyed look Emily shot her. "Never mind. We didn't get the dungarees, did we? Silly me – I must be getting a bit tired. I'd probably better get home."

Jess got up and hurried off, leaving Matt and Emily surrounded by paper bags from Primark, and a host of other shops including Jane Norman, New Look, Warehouse, TK Maxx and Oasis. Matt was left rather bewildered by Jess sudden exit and Emily's lack of surprise as he drained his cup of coffee and stood up.

"We'd probably better get home too. You've got so much to unpack now," Matt told Emily, allowing himself a wry grin.

Emily took a deep breathe, trying to steady her nerves, before walking out into the living room where Matt was relaxing on the sofa after a tiring day.

When she'd made the decision, it had seemed like a good idea. But on second thoughts, it had been ridiculous and Emily worried what she would do if it didn't work.

In the end, she needn't have worried. Whilst she sat on the bed trying to work up the courage to merely open the door and sit on the sofa beside Matt, he turned off the TV and opened the bedroom door to ask Emily whether Jess had been as cavalier in skirt length with her as she was in her own style.

He was sincerely surprised to find Emily looking incredibly sexy in a lovely dress that hung off her frame perfectly, outlining her alluring curves and making her eyes smoulder. It took his breath away, whilst Emily stood up, embarrassed and shocked. No words came from her open mouth and Matt, feeling weak kneed, took her place on the bed, still staring at her in wonder.

Confused as to why Matt did not withdraw his gaze, Emily looked left and right, before realising that it was because her what she had intended was happening.

"Matt…" she breathed, moving slowly towards him.

"Hmmm?" He replied, not really focusing on listening to her at all.

Emily didn't say another word. Instead she placed a palm on either side of Matt's head, tilting it upwards and kissing him sweetly. If her boldness surprised him, Matt never said, but then again, he was too entranced by the taste and feel of her lips moving with his.

His hand reached out and stroked her hip, then the other one took her waist. Their kiss didn't break until Matt reached down with both his hands and pulled Emily by his grip under her thighs on top of him. Then after a small giggle, Emily resumed her exploration of Matt's mouth as his palms wandered over the smooth skin of her bare calves, and all the while her pink dress fluttered in the slight breeze coming through the open bedroom window.

As Matt's mouth moved down her jawline and throat, Emily found her breath catching and was quite unable to say why. His lips were moving over the exact spot where he pulse could normally be felt thrumming against her skin and his teeth grazed the spot every few seconds, marking Emily as his. Then Emily realised why her breath was uneven: she knew she needed to return the favour, and quickly ripped on his shirt, buttons flying everywhere.

"Oops," she whispered with a quiet laugh before her lips began to kiss his chest, neck and ear.

Then it was Matt's turn to find his breath hard to come by. His hands rested on her waist, unsure if she would want be comfortable with him moving them.

When Emily's teeth nipped his ear, they leapt upwards and she purred approvingly and Matt seized the chance to begin kissing her again, moving back to that spot on her neck that she so liked. It wasn't until he returned to her mouth that Matt fully appreciated the earlier shopping trip, as he remembered the time Jess and Emily had spent buying lingerie and wondered what exactly he could expect to find under the frills of the dress.

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><p><strong>AN: I'd love a few reviews just so I know what you all thought. And remember: prompt me.**


	8. Memily?

**A/N: Again, sorry for not updating last week. I forgot. If I do forget don't be afraid to remind me! :) This little idea came from Sarcastic-Bones. I hope you like it.**

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><p><strong>Memily?<strong>

"Film night?" Connor asked excitedly. "Bagsy picking the movie."

Becker groaned. "No, Temple there is _no way _I'm letting you pick the film. We'll end up watching some sci-fi/fantasy rubbish."

"I'm definitely picking something sci-fi now," Connor laughed.

"Why not a rom-com?" Jess interrupted, holding onto Becker's hand and leaning on his shoulder as they all left the ARC. "What about that new one with Jennifer Aniston?"

"I don't think I can stomach a rom-com, Jess," Becker told her.

She pulled a puppy dog face, widening her eyes and looking up at him pleadingly.

"Alright," Becker muttered giving in. "There's no way I can stand firm after that look. You win, Jess. I vote watching a rom-com."

Jess grinned happily and stretched to kiss her fiancé.

"Sap," Matt hissed into Becker's ear. "I can't believe you folded."

Becker shot him a glare, while Abby and Connor both smirked.

"I'm definitely not going if we watch a rom-com," Matt continued.

"Grouch!" Abby said playfully, turning round from where she and Connor led the party to the SUV to glare at him.

Emily took Matt's hand. "Yeah, you've got to join in. It won't be the same without you," she beseeched him, then speaking quietly just to him continued, "Besides, if we do watch something romantic, I'm sure we can think of something else to do."

Matt grinned at her. "Alright. But I still don't want to watch something too lovey-dovey."

The six friends piled into the SUV, with Matt driving and Emily in the front beside him. In the back Abby sat atop Connor's lap where there wasn't enough space for four people. When they pulled into Blockbuster, Becker and Matt groaned at the thought of watching a rom-com in its entirety, whilst Abby and Connor headed into the shop first.

"Oh God, quick let's get in there before Connor picks out Star Wars again."

"Hey!" Connor called back to them, sounding offended. "I heard that!"

The four friends followed Connor and Abby into Blockbuster, though Matt and Becker trailed behind being pulled by Jess and Emily, who were both fairly excited although for different reasons. For Jess it was the thrill of spending time with her friends. Any kind of gathering would bring out this kind of joy and high in her; whilst for Emily, it was the anticipation of watching her first film and doing it with her friends.

Inside the shop, Connor began to head straight for the fantasy section, until Becker's hand clamped around the material of the back of his jacket and yanked him back. "I don't think so, Temple."

"Calm down, Action Man. Sheesh! I was only joking!"

"Very funny," Becker responded. "I'm laughing so hard my sides are splitting."

Jess giggled at his sarcastic tone and continued following Abby as she searched for a film.

"Right, here we are. Rom-coms," Abby murmured distastefully. "You sure you wouldn't prefer an action film, Becker?"

"No. What Jess wants is fine."

Abby grumbled but nevertheless began scanning the rows of DVDs for something that caught her eye.

"Is anything okay as long as it's got romance in it, Jess?"

"I guess…" Jess replied to Abby uncertainly.

"Excellent." She picked up a DVD and concealed its cover in her jacked. "Right let's go pay for it then."

"Hold on," Matt called. "Hadn't you better ask Emily if she's okay with whatever it is you've picked up?"

"Fine," Abby sighed. "Emily, what do you think about Mr and Mrs Smith?"

"Sounds a bit common. Why can't you just take Connor's surname when you get married?"

"Emily, it's the name of the film," Matt explained, taking the DVD and showing it to her.

"Abby," Jess groaned. "You know I hate Brangelina! Look what they did to poor Jennifer Aniston!"

"Brangelina? Who's that?" Emily asked, no longer looking at the DVD in Matt's hands.

"Brangelina is two people – Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie – who are called Brangelina because that's what their names are put together," Jess explained, still glaring at Abby.

"Right," Connor continued. "So Abby and I would be Conby or Cabby or…that's all I can think of."

"Why does your name come first?" Abby demanded.

"Because Brad's comes first, Love."

Abby harrumphed but said nothing further.

"And Jess and I would be Bessica, Bess, Jecker or something like that."

"So we'd be called…Memily?" Emily asked Matt, who looked rather uncomfortable, his face turning the colour of beetroots.

"Well, yeah, except we're not a couple," he replied, trying to hide his attraction to her soft face and brown curls and his wish that they _were _a couple.

Abby scoffed. "Yeah, because you don't fancy her."

Matt struggled to retort, stuttering and merely opening and closing his mouth.

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><p><strong>AN: What did you think? Please leave a review if you've got time. If anyone's got any prompts for a chapter tell me them too. Also, my apologies if anyone really likes Brangelina. :)**


	9. Double Trouble

**A/N: This prompt (for a double date with Jess and Becker) came from Heyarandomgal. A big thank you goes out for that! Thanks also go to the reviewers! It means so much and you're all amazing. I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoy reading it too. Be sure to tell me what you think!**

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><p><strong>Double Trouble<strong>

"It's not much further," Matt promised, holding a blind-folded Emily by the hand and leading her forwards. "Oh, careful – there's a step up here."

"Can't you just take the scarf off now?" Emily asked. If she hadn't been wearing the scarf she would have rolled her eyes or stared almost mockingly up at Matt.

"No," Matt replied serenely. After a few minutes of him shuffling Emily forwards he turned back to her and slowly lifted the scarf from her beautiful, chocolate coloured eyes. She gasped as she saw where they were: an upmarket London restaurant. Everywhere she looked, slick black surfaces sang of sophistication, and the dimmed red lights set the romantic mood she and Matt had been searching for for their one year anniversary.

They stood side by side, Emily's arm over Matt's, at the Maître d's front desk.

"Good evening. May I take your reservation name, Sir?" The Maître d' asked politely.

"It's under Anderson," Matt replied with a nod of his head.

"If you'd please follow me."

The Maître d' led them through a series of tables before stopping at one, set for two, just beside another couple enjoying a romantic meal.

"Thanks," Matt muttered, smoothly depositing a ten pound note in the head waiter's hand.

"Well this is nice," Emily told him as she picked up her menu.

"Not bad for your first restaurant, eh?"

"It's lovely."

A waiter came to take their order, dressed entirely in black with a badge bearing the name Christopher, pinned to his chest. Once Christopher had left with their order and menus, Matt reached across the walnut table and took Emily's soft hands.

"Happy Anniversary," he smiled.

"Happy Anniversary," Emily repeated, leaning forwards to meet Matt's lips.

As the restaurant filled up, the time for their starter to arrive, seemed to build. Matt, craning his neck, looked around the restaurant for Christopher, hoping to see him coming with two plates. Instead Matt spotted two familiar faces at the table beside theirs.

"Becker? Jess?" He said in surprise.

The two people looked up, and both Matt and Emily instantly recognised them as their head of security and field coordinator.

"Matt. Emily," Becker muttered.

"What are doing here?" Matt and Becker asked in synchronisation.

"It's our anniversary," Emily and Jess answered.

"Your anniversary is on the 3rd too?" Matt questioned, his Irish accent coming out strongly.

"Well, no, but we're both scheduled to work on the 10th," Jess explained. "So we booked a table here this evening instead."

Before Matt or Emily could reply, Christopher came back with their starters: a butternut squash soup for Emily and some salmon blinis for Matt.

"Sorry for the delay, Sir. Your main courses will be on time, of course."

"Erm, excuse me, would it be at all possible to put these two tables together?" Jess asked Christopher. "It's just we're all work friends and I think we'd all enjoy eating our meals together. We might as well now that we know we're all here," she added in an undertone to Emily, who smiled uncertainly at her.

"Of course, Miss. That is entirely possible. If you could all just stand a moment, we will move a table."

"Great!"

Becker mouthed an apology at Matt and Emily as he stood up and shrugged his shoulders. Everyone at the ARC knew it was impossible to restrain Jess once she had an idea in her head.

Christopher, and another waiter, moved Matt and Emily's table, placing it beside Jess and Becker's then moved the chairs around before disappearing back to the kitchen.

"I've never been on a double date!" Jess exclaimed as she sat back down in her seat. Emily took the chair beside her with Matt opposite and Becker in front of his own girlfriend, Jess. "Have you?"

"No," Becker replied instantly, his eyes fixed on Jess.

"Matt?"

"No, sorry, Jess. I haven't either."

"What about you, Emily?" Jess asked, not really thinking about Emily's background. Of course, double dating wasn't a concept that existed in Victorian England, and certainly not in the upper classes that Emily belonged to. No, she was married off to a man of stature, with a title, and the ability to provide for her in every way possible, except of course in matters of love.

"Am I right in thinking that a double date means two couples one a date together?"

"Yep, that's about right," Matt replied, tucking into his blinis.

"Yeah, except you missed the crucial part. It means double the trouble," Becker muttered to Matt who chuckled softly, unaware that both Jess and Emily had overheard.

"Then perhaps us 'troublemakers' should leave you boys alone," Jess suggested.

"Only joking, Honey."

"I don't know. What do you think, Emily?"

Emily surveyed both Matt and Becker's pleading expressions before answering. "I think they both need to be taught a lesson," Emily replied with a sly grin that Matt knew only too well. He was currently looking at his girlfriend's mischievous side.

"Yeah, you're right. This isn't the place, but perhaps you'd come with me to powder my nose," Jess murmured, hoping she and Emily could discuss strategies in the toilets.

Emily stood up, pushing her chair back, and walked behind Jess through the tables to the ladies' room.

"So what should we do?" Jess asked the moment the door closed. Her voice was low and urgent, as she glanced around the room.

"We need to take our time. Let them stew and worry a while yet."

Jess gave Emily a shrewd look. "You do stuff like this all the time, don't you?"

"Stuff like what?" Emily queried, bewildered.

"I don't know…the devious…the mischievous…"

Emily nodded shyly. It was true. There was a part of her, hidden to everyone but Matt, that seemed to be just as Jess had described. It would never have surfaced if she still lived in the 1800s.

"Since you're the expert, what do you recommend we do?"

"I think we should pretend that we got up to more in here than they think we have," Emily replied cryptically.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying? Make them think we…what, kissed?"

Emily nodded, assessing Jess' thoughts from her expression. Her eyes were wide and staring from shock, but she nodded all the same.

"And how do we do that?"

"Are you wearing lipstick?" Emily asked. Jess nodded. "Great, smudge it. Mess your hair up a bit."

Jess pouted. "It took me ages to do my hair like this," she complained, pointing at her sophisticated up-do.

"It'll be worth it for their expressions, trust me," Emily told her, already smudging her own red lipstick with the back of her hand. She mussed her brown curls a few times and then checked Jess. "Perfect. Come on."

The pair of them walked out holding hands, and both Becker and Matt stared at them as they moved towards their table. Becker's gaze was locked on Jess' smudged lipstick, whilst Matt zeroed in on their entwined hands. The two girls sat down at the table and nonchalantly began eating their food again.

Matt and Becker still gaped, their food untouched.

"What is there something on my face?" Emily asked Matt innocently.

Clearing his throat, Matt replied, "No," and turned his gaze southward and focused on eating.

Becker continued to angrily watch Jess, hoping to force her to meet his gaze. It was going perfectly until Jess caved and giggled.

"I'm sorry. I can't keep this up!"

"Jessica," Becker warned. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry!" Jess gasped through her hysterics. "Your faces! Such a picture! Honestly, what did you think we'd done?"

"Kissed," Matt replied simply, smiling at Emily. "Well played."

"Thank you," his girlfriend replied, and lightly kissed his cheek. "I think we'd better return to the ladies' room, though, Jess. We're starting to get some funny looks…"

Jess nodded and got up. She skipped forwards and placed a kiss on Becker's temple before joining Emily. Still in his shocked stupor, Becker turned to Matt.

"Told you. Double trouble," he mumbled.

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><p><strong>AN: Remember to review!**


	10. A Question for another Time

**A/N: Sorry for the slight delay, I have job where I work weekends now so it was a bit hard to find some time to update. But here it is. It came from me, this one, so I would love to know what you think. The next chapter after this is going to go forwards in time quite a bit. I hope you like this chapter and I'm going to shut up now. **

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><p><strong>A Question for another Time<strong>

Emily had come through the gateway even though she knew she shouldn't. It was one of her rules – not to interact or stay in a time with other human inhabitants. She couldn't help but think how hypocritical it was; but, if she didn't do it, Charlotte, her best friend, would die. But it was pointless. Charlotte hadn't gotten to a hospital before she'd died, and then he'd come. Matt.

Emily could tell by looking at his clothes that he belonged in this time, unlike her. In looks they contrasted terribly. He was tall and muscled, in a pair of jeans and a shirt under his new, brown leather jacket. Emily, on the other hand, still wore her Victorian dress and protected her arms in a weathered leather jacket she'd stolen from one of the first time's she'd accidentally walked into, expecting it to be the doorway back to her home.

She was forced to go back through the gateway, into that time with the tree creepers, knowing that if she stayed and was caught, terrible things would happen. But he saw her. He followed her, desperately shouting, "Wait!" But she couldn't. She looked at him for a few moments, assessing his intentions and how much he knew about her, before turning and running through the glittering ball of golden light.

Emily forged ahead, forgetting temporarily about the man who had followed her. She was alert, trying to keep an eye out for tree creepers, but she could hear him coming closer and still shouting to her as they weaved between trees. Before it was too late and he caught up to her, she ducked behind a tree and grabbed the heaviest thing she could find: a thick branch.

As Matt came running past, wondering how he had managed to lose sight of the woman, she spun out from behind a tree and whacked him across the chest with a very large stick, knocking the breath from him.

"I don't need your help, you fool. Go back!" And despite the fact that they didn't even know each other, Emily spoke with such determination and a fierce fire raged in her chocolate-brown eyes. He was strangely attracted to it.

As he lay on the floor, trying to get air into his lungs, Matt saw the tree creeper, or rather the arboreal raptor leaping through the trees after her, and pushed himself to his feet.

He too had broken all the rules that he'd implemented when he started at the ARC. He'd gone through an anomaly. And he still hadn't gone back. All because of some psychopathic woman who went around hitting guys with logs and wouldn't listen to anyone.

"Hey!" He shouted, trying to get her attention to warn her. "Hey, look out!

It worked, but she turned to face him and never noticed the tail sliding around her middle until it was too late and she was in the air, writhing to get free as the life was slowly squeezed out of her.

It was hard, but Emily managed to draw the dagger from her boot and stab the creature so that it dropped her. She fell to the ground hard, banging her head on a rock and when Matt bent over her, she could have sworn she saw two of him.

He helped her up and hurried away, constantly looking over her shoulder and ignoring her gasps as every breath she took sent waves of pain where she had fallen on her side.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to get you home," he replied, in an obvious Irish lilt.

Emily's head was beginning to pound and sway when they arrived at the gateway and Matt cursed, "No, no!" He didn't know what to do. The woman he had followed clearly needed medical attention.

It looked different in a ball with its glow reduced but Emily was too delirious to really think about it. Taking her dagger from his belt, Matt set her down on the ground and took up a defensive position in front of her. She watched as he battled with a tree creeper and wished she were able to help.

Then the anomaly opened, and Matt looked behind him in disbelief, before running to Emily and heaving her up. They crossed through the anomaly and fell down, all too aware of what was behind them.

But by that point, Emily was unconscious.

Matt and Becker talked over her, their voices bringing her back around slightly until when Matt, with the help of Becker, picked her up, taking all her weight in his arms this time, she groaned. Her head was aching and everything around her seemed to spin. The rhythm of Matt's steps lulled the pain slightly but she still felt as though she might be sick.

He stopped suddenly and the blip of the car when he used the keys to unlock it sounded much too loud for her.

He carefully put her in the passenger seat and went to the driver's side. When he began driving, Emily turned and quietly asked, her eyes closed, "What is this?"

Matt breathed out, his suspicion that she was from another time igniting.

"It's a car."

Emily nodded slightly, but she still had no idea what he was talking about.

"How's it moving?"

The quiet roar of the engine was a bit loud and made Emily's head hurt, but when Matt began to try to explain to her the mechanics of why the car moved without horses, she fell back into unconsciousness, and Matt, worried, floored the accelerator, regardless of the fact that it could get him arrested.

The next time Emily came to be in a car was only a few hours later, but this time she was much more alert. They were going back to Matt's flat, where, he insisted, she should rest because of her concussion.

She looked at the black car in confusion. It was sleek and big, metal but it must have been light, she theorised, to be able to move itself.

"How does it work again?" She asked.

"It's got an engine…a motor," matt began, wondering how to explain the 21st century to a Victorian, "that sort of makes it move…I'm not very good at explaining. Why don't you let me look it up on the internet?"

"What's the internet?"

Matt groaned. "A question for another time, that's what."


	11. Rite of Passage

**A/N: I'm on time this week with my update! This prompt came from an anonymous reviewer. I hope you all like it.**** Leave a review if you have time!**

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><p><strong>Rite of Passage<strong>

"So…modern films…where to start," Matt murmured to himself, trying to think which of the classics would be best.

Emily had disappeared, hunting through his DVD collection, staring avidly at the boxes' covers in wonder.

"Titanic? That's a must-see for everyone…but perhaps not the best thing to start with given Robert and Lily are watching with us…"

Emily paid him no heed, nor did their four year old son who sat on the sofa patiently waiting for his parents to join him whilst he looked through his new picture book. Lily, being a two year old, was happy on the floor with a few toys and some paper and crayons.

"Something child friendly then…a Disney?" Matt mused. Thinking about it, he decided that a Disney film might be an apt choice – Emily was sure to be fascinated by the animations. But there were so many Disney films that he was finding it hard to choose. In the end he had to resort to flicking through all the Disney films in his collection, pausing at his favourites until he found…the Lion King.

He picked it up and glanced down at the familiar cover before turning over to read the blurb. It was as good a film as any, and it was practically a _rite of passage. _Every 21st century child had seen the Lion King.

"Hey Robbie, fancy watching your favourite?" Matt asked, turning and holding the DVD up for his son to see.

"Yeah!" His son cried, clapping his hands and turning to face him. "Simba!"

Emily turned in confusion but took her place on one side of Robert as Matt placed the DVD in the player and pressed play, picking up Lily and hugging her on the other side of his son.

"So what film is this?" Emily asked hesitantly while the beginning credits started and song began.

"The Lion King," Matt answered. "It's, well – you'll see."

Emily smiled as Rafiki held up baby Simba and Robert began singing along with the song. She laughed when Zazu was squashed and she gasped when Mufasa fell to his death, even crying a few tears when Simba tried to wake him.

"That Scar is pure evil!" She exclaimed turning to her son and husband.

Robert nodded without averting his eyes from the TV screen. "I told you that last week, Mum."

Matt chuckled under his breath and kissed the top of Lily's head as she clapped her little hands at Timon and Pumba's entrance.

When the film finished, Robert was sleepy but still smiling, whilst Emily held him tightly against her, smoothing his hair down on the top of his head.

"That was a good film," she murmured to her husband, but Robert nodded anyway whilst yawning. After tucking Lily and Robert in bed, Matt and Emily returned to the sofa, this time cuddled together. "I'm glad we did this."

"Now I might not have Robert pestering me every day. He'll coming to you instead to ask if he can watch the Lion King," Matt laughed.

"And I'll be happy to watch it with him."

Matt pressed his lips to the top of her head and ran his hand up and down her waist.

"Consider it one of your rites of passage."

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><p><strong>BN: I'd wanted to do a chapter with the kids again for a while and this was a good opportunity. I'd love to know what you all thought/hear some prompts so hit that review button!**


	12. Telling the Future

**A/N: Thanks to those of you who have reviewed! I hope you like this chapter. It was prompted by my very good friend, Sarcastic-Bones. I'd still love to know what you think, so be sure to leave a review!**

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><p><strong>Telling the Future<strong>

"Emily, can you turn on the news?" Matt shouted from his room as he did up the buttons on his checked shirt and tucked it into his trousers.

Emily sighed. She'd already been waiting for him for half an hour. Idly, she wondered what it was about Matt that meant her could never be ready on time, or meet her where he said he would. Still she duly switched on the TV before briefly pausing to ask if it mattered which channel she used.

"Nah, just go with BBC," Matt answered, his voice still raised as he ratcheted around for his shoes.

Pressing the buttons on the remote, Emily managed to get onto BBC 1 with little difficulty, and it was early enough that the BBC Breakfast News was still on, so all she had to do was wait for Matt.

Matt walked out looking pristinely smart in his shirt and chinos and took a seat on the sofa. "Good, just in time for the weather," he muttered as the weather girl appeared at the side of the screen in front of a map of Britain.

"It's a good morning today, folks at home. If you're in the south you can look forward to a warm, sunny day with highs of 24 degrees. If you're in Scotland, you can expect it to remain dry, though there will be clouds after lunchtime. Everywhere else is bright and temperatures will vary between 19 and 23 degrees."

"Excellent. Well, the weather's good, so let's go shall we?" Matt asked, standing and crooking his elbow for Emily to take. It wasn't much but that small gesture of holding out his elbow for her, as though she was still in the Victorian Era, was a great support to Emily; she was just a bit distracted to notice.

"What? She just…told the future…how does she know the future…" Emily's brow was crinkled, and Matt smiled gently before explaining that the weather girl didn't really know the future.

"See? So it's not telling the future, it's just looking at images of the earth from space and mapping the clouds' movements. It's all about atmospherics."

"Right," Emily replied, hiding the fact that she didn't understand what Matt meant by atmospherics. She was sure the local bookshop would be a great help anyway. So far she was having a lot of success with 'The Dummy's Guide to Cameras'. She was even taking her new camera – the one that Jess had thoughtfully bought to document the stages of her pregnancy – with her on their picnic. "Shall we go?"

"We shall," Matt replied with a wide smile, nervously patting his leg, just over his pocket, and leading her out the door. "Oh, best not forget the food," he murmured, ducking back inside the house to pick up the hamper he'd prepared earlier in the morning whilst Emily had been dressing.

Really, it was the perfect day. Not only was the weather predicted to be fine, but also, every glance at Emily sent a warm swath of butterflies through him. Stretched taught over her small baby-bump she wore a summery, pale blue dress that truly made her look beautiful. He just hoped that everything would go as planned.

It wasn't something Matt had ever believed in particularly: hope. After the things he'd seen in the future, he'd had no reason to. But hope was what Emily gave him, and ever since they'd gotten together, he'd found himself hoping for all manner of things. Even things which, really, were pointless, like whether Connor would be able to be quicker getting to the car after an alert.

"Come on, Matt. We haven't got all day," Emily said in her musical voice, jerking Matt out of his musings.

"Right, sorry," he apologised, coming out and closing the front door behind him.

Emily walked towards the car before Matt reached out and closed his fingers lightly around her wrist. She shot him a quizzical look.

"We're not going in the car. We're walking."

Emily nodded and took his hand and they walked off down the street, politely greeting all they passed.

Emily fussed over the small puppy that yapped and leapt up at her legs. "Hello. Well aren't you sweet?" She turned to look at Matt.

"No, no we're already having a baby; we're not getting a dog too," he told her, already beginning to feel horrible after one look in her expressive eyes.

After some more play, the dog's owner pulled on the leash and walked off in the opposite direction, leaving Matt and Emily to finally arrive at the park. After gorging themselves on delicious chocolate covered strawberries, Emily lay next to Matt on their blanket.

"So I've been thinking. Maybe a dog isn't the best idea; but how about a cat?" Emily asked hopefully.

Taking a few moments to think, Matt's answer was long in coming. "No need for walking…independent animals…reasonably easy to train…"

"Well?"

"Yeah, why not. Let's go and get a cat."

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><p><strong>AN: You know what to do: REVIEW! I feel there are too many people who I'm not hearing from so be sure to hit the button! Any response is okay! Even just a smiley (or if you didn't like it an unhappy smiley). **


	13. I Told You

**A/N: For Andrewleepotts! I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think!  
><strong>

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><p><strong>I Told You<strong>

The pain Emily could handle. It was Matt's constant mutters of "You're going to be fine, I swear," that were really beginning to grate on her nerves as the ambulance carried them to the nearest hospital.

"It's just a cut, Matt. Relax; it could be so much worse."

Matt's eyes tightened and he nodded. She knew exactly what he was thinking: she could have been injured in a confrontation with a dinosaur at any time in the last three months and all whilst she was carrying their baby. It was something Matt felt immensely guilty over. He regretted allowing Emily into the field, but with Becker injured and Abby on leave, every member of the team was needed.

"Nothing happened," she gently reminded him, reading the pain in his expression. "We're both fine."

He nodded and tightened his grip on her uninjured hand, almost grateful that she had only accidentally cut her palm on a kitchen knife. Still, it was a deep cut and it had been bleeding profusely for ten minutes before the ambulance had arrived. The paramedics told the new couple that the injury would require stitches.

The ambulance itself was a new experience for Emily. But the hospital, and its organised chaos, was completely overwhelming. She had a few dim memories of her last hospital visit, just after coming through the gateway; but for the most part she had been unconscious and then too focused on returning to the theatre to find Ethan.

This time, the plain white walls sent a wave of worry through her. They were too clean. It was almost sinister in appearance, reminding her of the walls in her house with Henry. She'd tried to decorate those, but he had not allowed it.

Seeing the worry in her brown eyes, Matt squeezed her hand as he walked along beside her. The nurse was leading them to a cubicle and smiled reassuringly back at them.

"Just hop on the bed, please," the nurse instructed, holding the turquoise curtain back for them before pulling it closed to offer them privacy.

All in all, the modern hospital offered a very different picture than one Emily was used to. Her recollection of visiting her mother's death bed and the reports she'd heard of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean war hospitals were total contrasts to the clean, sterile environment the paramedics had taken her to.

Emily nodded and sat on the bed, her haphazardly bandaged hand resting palm upwards in her lap.

The nurse, who was male (another new experience for Emily), smiled once again and began unwrapping her hand, holding her wrist tenderly. Matt, who had sat beside her, squeezed her shoulder when the bandage fell way, dragging slightly over the cut which stretched from her scaphoid to the base of her third finger.

Talking slowly, the nurse, Jay, explained the procedure he would follow for the stitches, nodding at Matt because he'd quietly muttered a quick aside word about Emily's inexperience with stitches, before readying the needle.

Emily closed her eyes, not at all squeamish about the sight of blood or watching a needle sink into her flesh (she'd done it enough times herself when she'd first started embroidery); but nervous about the procedure.

She gasped as the needle pushed through barrier of her skin, pulling together the two ridges of the cut, closing the still bleeding wound. Again, Matt pulled her into his side, pressing his lips to her temple.

"You okay, Emily?"

She nodded mutely.

When the stitches were all done, Jay re-bandaged her hand and counselled her on what she would be able to do.

"No heavy lifting. Try to move it slowly to avoid excess strain on the stitches. They're dissolvable so you won't need to come back in to get them taken out. Just take things easy and you can stop wearing the bandage after a week. But make sure you take care not to get any of the stitches caught."

Emily nodded and paid close attention to what he was saying, whilst Matt was signing the discharge forms.

"Told you I'd be fine," Emily murmured as they left, and waited at the taxi rank for their ride home.

"And I told you the hospital wasn't that bad," he replied.

"If you'd grown up in the eighteen hundreds, you'd be a little hesitant about healthcare too. No NHS, no real rules…"

"I know," he conceded, taking her uninjured hand and pulling her into the back of their taxi.

"Where to?" The driver asked, turning to look at them both.

"Home?" Matt asked Emily.

"Home," she nodded.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks for reading! Review? Please? I'm still looking for prompts, so if you've got any be sure to tell me!**


	14. Too Many Things

**A/N: I thought this prompt by rika08 had so much potential! (To satisfy my her, Sarcastic-Bones also suggested the idea but it was after rika08.) Anyway, I have some serious thanks for you reviewers – you are all completely, totally, wholly and utterly awesome! I hope you'll all enjoy. Leave a review if you've got time!**

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><p><strong>Too Many Things<strong>

After she had been back in the 21st century for a month, Lester felt it was high-time Emily learned to drive. It was just one of those necessary skills every member of the ARC field team depended on. So he had ordered Captain Becker to teach her. After all, he had passed his military driving exam with flying colours – who would be a better teacher?

"So this is the exhaust?" Emily asked, walking around the car with Becker.

Becker nodded. He had started with teaching Emily the basic mechanics of the car – what each part was and what it did. So far he was pretty impressed with her knowledge. Matt had warned him to expect Emily to be, well, a disaster in the car. But clearly Emily had been doing some research as she knew how the car worked and what everything under the bonnet was.

However, she had shown some mild amusement that the front hatch was called a bonnet.

"I don't think it would fit on anybody's head…"

The joke had passed completely over Becker's head; but then he was never one to let puns distract him whilst he was on the job anyway.

"I think that's everything, Emily. How about we get in the car and start driving?" Becker asked, already opening the passenger door.

Filled with nerves, Emily opened the door on the driver's side and got into the seat.

"Okay, put you chair into position," instructed Becker.

Emily bent forwards and pulled the lever underneath her to pull the chair forwards. Usually Becker or one of his men drove the ARC cars and they all had much longer legs that Emily. After pulling the chair forwards, Emily rested her feet on the accelerator and clutch pedals.

"Key into the ignition."

Emily inserted the key into the slot and twisted it, her fingers trembling slightly. The car rumbled to life, a steady stream of vibrations travelling through the seats.

"Put her into first," Becker continued.

Emily reached for the gearstick before stopping short and turning to Becker. "She?"

"Yeah, I guess I should've introduced you to Brenda."

"Who's Brenda?" Emily asked, completely bewildered. As far as she knew there was no-one called Brenda who even worked at the ARC. And as a member of the core team, Emily had met pretty much everyone in the building.

Becker proudly patted the arm rest. "Emily, this is Brenda." He paused, grimacing slightly as he muttered, "Jess' idea. I personally don't name any of the cars but this name stuck…"

"Right…" Emily muttered, turning her attention back to the gearbox.

"Remember, before you put her in gear-"

"I know, I know. Put the clutch down." As she spoke the words, Emily pushed her left foot to the floor of the car and pushed the gearstick forwards into first from second. Whoever had been driving the car before her had obviously accidentally left it in gear rather than putting it into neutral.

Surprised Becker considered whether Matt had underestimated Emily. She was keeping a level head and had remembered what she had already learnt.

"Slowly raise your foot off the clutch," Becker told her, "until you feel the biting point."

Emily lifted her foot as lightly as she could and then saw the car bonnet rise slightly. Biting point. Becker didn't even have to tell her to accelerate and release the handbrake.

Emily drove through the car park smoothly, gently accelerating and braked beautifully to pull to a stop at the turning for the road. A responsible driver she looked left and right before pulling out and then breaking suddenly.

Becker swore angrily. "It's okay. Not your fault. Idiot didn't indicate," he said to Emily, nodding to the man in the silver Audi who had been speeding and driven through the junction without indicating to say where he was going.

Emily nodded, but her heart was racing with fear. Inching forwards, she continued on her way, but now her confidence was shot and she kept stalling as she tried to change gear. Sometimes she forgot to look in her mirrors, and it was only Becker' alertness that kept them alive.

"Alright, pull over Emily," Becker ordered, frustrated after he had had to take control of the steering wheel to stop Emily swerving into the path of another driver.

Emily nodded and pulled into the pavement, shutting off the engine. Her hands were gripping the steering wheel like vices. Her eyes were wide, and still her heart hammered in her chest.

Perhaps it was too soon, Becker wondered, pulling out his phone and dialling Matt. He spoke in low, urgent tones, explaining briefly what had happened and where they were.

"Okay, two tics and I'll be right there," Matt said, hanging up.

Becker and Emily hadn't gone far at all from the ARC. The plan had been to just drive along the same roads around the ARC until Emily felt comfortable and then leave things like parking, the motorway and turns for later. Now, Becker doubted they would ever get to them. He was even afraid he wouldn't be able to carry on teaching her.

For five minutes, he sat in anxious silence, trying to find something to say but struggling with the words. He sighed with relief when Matt knocked on his window and flashed him a brief smile before walking to Emily's side and opening her door.

If Emily noticed him, she gave no sign of it. She continued to stare at her hands on the steering wheel, as Matt undid her seatbelt and lifted her from the car before seating her on the bonnet and cupping her cheeks.

Her warm, brown eyes were diluted with fear, he noticed. Emily finally looked at Matt and pulled up one side of her mouth into a rough approximation of a smile.

"You'll be fine," Matt murmured.

"Fine as in healthy or fine as in I'll be able to drive?" She queried, holding onto his wrists whilst Becker whistled in the car and looked out of the passenger window to give them some privacy. He felt like a lamb trapped in headlights though.

"Both," Matt answered honestly.

"I highly doubt that," Emily replied sadly. "There's just too many things to do at once."

"Come on, how about I teach you?"

Emily looked at him doubtfully, hesitating before shaking her head. She just didn't want to learn anymore.

"Go on," Matt encouraged. "Oi! Becker! You're driving my car back!" He shouted.

Becker nodded and got out, getting into the silver SUV Matt had driven and returning back to the ARC.

Matt took Emily's hand and led her to the passenger seat. He wouldn't force her to drive, but he did have a better plan than perhaps Becker, who more or less threw her in the deep end.

Matt drove back to the ARC and instead of parking outside, continued to the indoor multi-storey car park. He drove to the top level then stopped without even parking in a space.

Emily glanced at him from the corner of her eye, trying to work out what he was doing.

"Matt?" She asked hesitantly.

Matt said nothing as he undid his seatbelt and turned to look at Emily.

"Matt?" She repeated.

"How about a game?" He asked suddenly.

"What kind of game?" Emily was wary by now.

"Well, it's more of a bet…"

"Go on," Emily said, intrigued.

"I bet you, Emily, that you won't drive this car round the car park, through all the levels. If you do it, you win the box of chocolates I hid but if _I _win, I get them."

Emily scowled. Matt knew how much she loved chocolate.

"Fine. It's a bet."

They shook hands then changed seats. Emily repeated the steps Becker had taught her to start the car and then began slowly driving in a circle round the top level. She went round twice then drove down to the next level. Although she was still nervous, the fear of crashing into someone else was gone because in the ARC car park no-one was driving. Beginning to smile, Emily sped up slightly.

"Oh, just don't scratch Lester's new Lamborghini," Matt blurted.

Emily grinned even more.

Finally they were at the bottom level and Emily braked to look triumphantly at Matt.

"I did it! She exclaimed happily.

"I told you you could," Matt said with a smile.

Realisation falling upon her, Emily turned on him. "You wanted me to win. That's not a proper bet."

"It is. I wanted the chocolates," Matt argued.

"Why would you want them? You don't even like chocolate that much."

Matt muttered something. It sounded suspiciously like, "I wanted to give them to you."

"Chocolates," Emily demanded, rolling her eyes.

"Under the bed," Matt replied, holding his hands up as he revealed his secret.

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><p><strong>AN: So what did you think?**


	15. Something Unusual

**A/N: As requested by Andrewleepotts. Just to let you all know, it is linked to the last chapter. I hope you'll enjoy it. **

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><p><strong>Something Unusual<br>**

Triumphantly, Emily held the box of chocolates aloft.

"Oh, you even got some filled with strawberry! They're my favourites!" Emily yelled to Matt.

"I know, Emily, that's why I got them," Matt said from the doorway, surprising Emily as she hadn't heard him enter the room.

"Matt," she muttered reproachfully, "you gave me a fright."

"Sorry," he replied with an easy smile.

Emily accepted his apology and turned back to investigating what flavour chocolates Matt's selection box contained.

Brow furrowed, Matt got onto his knees beside her, and looked under the bed. He couldn't believe Emily hadn't found the bottle of cherry flavoured liqueur he'd hidden under the bed with the chocolates. He'd intended to surprise her with a late night feast, a treat of sorts; but, somehow, the bottle he'd stashed had disappeared.

"Emily, you didn't by any chance, see a bottle under here, did you?"

Emily looked up. "Oh, you mean this?" In her hand was the exact bottle Matt had bought from the supermarket and smuggled into the flat, except it was already half empty. "I was curious," Emily admitted, noticing where his prolonged gaze lay.

"So I see…" After a brief pause Matt looked back up at Emily's beautiful face. "I bought it for you, so don't worry about it."

"Thank you, Matt! It's delicious!" And she took another swig from the bottle, giggling at Matt's shocked expression.

In the space of five minutes the bottle was empty and Matt was watching with amusement as the alcohol went straight to Emily's head. Unused to drinking, Emily was the biggest lightweight Matt had ever seen. She was drunk in minutes. She was swaying slightly, blurting out every thought that entered her head, and refused to stop smiling at him.

"You're so sweet, Matthew," she slurred, reverting to using his full name.

"I think you're only saying that because you're inebriated," Matt tried to tell her.

"No!" Emily exclaimed, lunging forwards and landing with her face in Matt's lap.

Beginning to feel uncomfortable, Matt sighed with relief when she rolled over and stared up at him.

"I mean it," she murmured incoherently. "I-" Then Emily stopped talking and gazed almost unseeingly. "You have such beautiful eyes…"

"Er, thanks, I guess," Matt replied awkwardly.

Whilst Matt tried to think what to do with Emily, she continued talking, believing he was listening to her. It came as quite a shock to Matt when Emily suddenly stopped talking.

He looked down and shook her, fearing the worst. Her eyes were closed and her breathing slow, but she had only fallen asleep. Emily's eyes opened and, without warning, her hands sprang to Matt's neck, rightly gripping his collar, and pulling his face down to her own. She kissed him whilst Matt was frozen with shock. After a few seconds, Emily's hands fell back to her side and her head lolled as she fell back into sleep.

Matt gulped, trying to wet his throat, and took Emily into his arms, easily lifting her slim form, and tucked her into bed to sleep off the effects of the alcohol.

He worried, however, over how much Emily would remember when she woke up.

When Emily woke up, she was incredibly confused. Not only did she have no memories of going to bed, but she couldn't remember anything since returning to the flat after her first driving lesson.

She had a strange feeling that she had done something to embarrass herself though.

Groaning at the slight headache that was troubling her, Emily threw back the covers and wondered why she hadn't changed into some pyjamas when she had gone to bed. She shook her head at her stupidity and wandered through to the kitchen where Matt leant against the counter with his usual cup of coffee.

Emily's suspicion was confirmed when he looked at her and then glanced away, his cheeks tinged red.

Clearing her throat, Emily asked, "Did something unusual happen yesterday, Matt?"

"No," Matt answered. "I just gave you the chocolates but you were feeling tired so you went to bed. You must have fallen asleep before you could change."

Emily nodded, accepting his story without further thought whilst Matt relaxed slightly, glad it was finally over. He was sure to never buy her alcohol again though.

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><p><strong>AN: So what did you think? **


	16. Oops

**A/N: Apologies for the delay in updating. I was busy working at the weekend and was really worn out. I'd quickly like to thank Sarcastic-Bones for her help with this chapter. I was a bit stuck for the plot line and she gave me some ideas. I hope you'll all like it. Leave a review to let me know what you thought!**

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><p><strong>Oops<strong>

"Jess, Connor, could I ask a favour?" Emily asked quietly, shooting a furtive glance over her shoulder to make sure Matt and the kids were nowhere in sight.

"Sure," Jess replied cheerfully, spinning her chair at the ADD around. "What can we help you with?"

"I was wondering if you could teach me how to use a computer…"

"Why would you want to know that?" Connor asked, turning to look at her.

"Well, I still haven't bought any Christmas presents yet." Connor shook his head in mock disgust as Emily continued, "I went into town last weekend, but it was just too busy to really get anything done and by the time I came home, I'd only bought a scratching post for Tiddles. I know Matt's ordered his over the internet, so I was hoping to do the same…"

"Of course, Emily! It's Christmas; how could we not help?" Jess exclaimed, already hopping up and turning on one of the laptops at the work spaces in the Hub. Connor and Emily trailed behind her and watched idly as she set about setting Emily up with an account. Once that was done, Jess moved on to connecting to the ARC's wireless network, pausing as a thought struck her. "You've got a credit card, right?"

"Matt and I have a joint account with a card, yes," Emily murmured, fascinatedly watching Jess' fingers touch the keys and type out words whilst she wasn't even looking.

"Cool," Connor muttered in relief. "What about email? Have you got your own email account?"

"No…do I need one?"

"Yep – you don't want Matt to see any confirmation emails – it's fine though, we can easily set one up for you. Just make sure you pay attention to what we're doing," he instructed.

Jess opened up a tab with Hotmail and turned expectantly to Emily. "What do you want your name to be?"

"I have a name," Emily replied.

"No, I know, but you need a different one to make your email address," Jess explained.

"But I already have a name," Emily asserted, afraid of losing her identity entirely. The experience of having to change nearly everything she was to be able to live in the 21st century had affected her more than she had let on. It hadn't just been her title she'd sacrificed. She'd abandoned her past and what should have been her future. She'd lost some of her values and virtues. And then she'd had to change her name again when she married Matt. Emily had changed so much from the young, naïve, newly-wed who had gone to investigate the flickering gold light that she was barely recognisable.

"Actually, Jess, that's a point. We can use Lady Merchant or something…" Connor mused.

"Good idea, Connor," Jess replied, sounding relieved that an argument had been avoided.

Emily concentrated as Jess typed in ladyemerchant in the username box.

"Password…" Connor mumbled.

"How about Robert's date of birth?" Jess suggested.

Emily nodded her approval and watched as Jess input the date 23/02/2013.

"Okay, so that's your email done…now you're all set up to get an Amazon account. I'll just do that for you…" Jess used the email address and password that she'd just created and smiled at Emily as she said, "You're all ready to go. Just type your searches in the search bar and then add stuff to your basket. Then when you've done that, Connor can help you with putting in your bank details."

"Thanks, Jess, you've saved our Christmas."

Jess beamed and practically skipped as she returned to the ADD and ran a quick system diagnostic. Ever since the whole Leek fiasco, a check-up scan was meant to be done every day. Spyware and viruses were unlikely, and so far had been avoided but the checks were essential.

Connor hung about Emily, on hand should she need his assistance, but Emily only had the simplest things to do. Typing and clicking buttons wasn't particularly hard, and she'd seen the ARC staff do it enough times to know what to do anyway.

She put ten items in her basket without thinking much: a temperature gauge for Matt, some animal earmuffs for Robert and Lily's stockings, a few Mr Men books, a Disney film, some USB colour changing lights to plug into Jess' laptop, some Star Wars figurines for Connor, a tie rack for Lester, Hungry Hippos, an AK-47 replica for Becker and tequila filled chocolates for Abby.

Then she trawled through five searches until she was finished.

Connor helped her through the checkout stages, and then she heard the laptop ping as an email arrived in her new account's inbox. Without looking, because she expected it to be a confirmation of her order from Amazon, Emily opened the email and frowned as she saw the word 'Viagra'.

"Jess…Connor…" She called.

They both came over and saw the screen had turned blue and was dominated by a message with numerous incorrect spellings and grammatical mistakes.

"Emily, what did you click?" Connor asked, recognising the symptoms of a virus attacking a laptop.

"The confirmation email…" Emily replied uncertainly.

"What did it say though?" he questioned.

"Something about Viagra."

Connor and Jess both groaned.

"Right first things first," Jess said, immediately taking charge. "Open the command prompt. Pull up Norton Antivirus and run a full scan." In the emergency situation, she had completely forgotten that Emily had no idea what she was talking about.

Connor interrupted Jess, spouting his own ideas for the best way to deal with the virus whilst Emily sat in front of the laptop, motionless. "I hate emails," she whispered to herself.

When Connor and Jess realised that Emily hadn't done anything they'd said, they politely asked her to move from the chair and began fixing the laptop.

Somehow, between the pair of them, though Emily had no idea how, Jess and Connor managed to beat the virus and wipe it off the system without anyone else even hearing a whisper of it.

Matt whistled as he walked through into the Hub to find Jess, Connor and Emily crowded around a computer.

"What's going on?" He asked interestedly.

"Nothing," Jess replied with an easy smile.

Matt nodded and sat down beside Emily. "Oh, do you mind if I use the computer a sec?"

Emily shook her head and watched Connor move away and pause to talk to Lester for a few seconds.

Matt hummed quietly as he searched through the ARC's shared files, frowning as he saw one that had never been there before. He clicked on it and almost had a heart attack.

"Emily? Do you know anything about this?"

She started at the sound of his voice and turned from where she had been staring into space to look at the computer screen. She too froze, her jaw dropping open, only to slam shut seconds later as Lester appeared behind them to tell them to get back to work.

"Mr Anderson! I do not appreciate staff members downloading inappropriate materials during work hours!" He angrily vented. "Not only is porn disgusting, but it is completely unsuitable in the work place!"

"Oops," Emily breathed.

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><p><strong>AN: REVIEW! PROMPT ME! **


	17. Notice

**Attention Readers:**

**Okay, I'm really sorry, but I'm struggling with juggling work, schoolwork, revision and writing at the moment. Obviously, as I'm in my last year of school, it's really important that I put my education and exams first and try to revise as much as possible because I need to get good grades to get into University, so I've made the hard decision of banning myself from fanfiction from now till at least the end of January. I hope you'll understand why I've made this decision. Rest assured, that as soon as I can, I'll return ready to continue this story and hopefully have some ideas for new stories up my sleeve. I apologise for the necessity of this and that you won't have any new chapters to read, but I advise you to add this story (if you haven't already) to your alert so that you know about a new chapter as soon as I update because I don't know when it'll be so I can't forwarn you. **

**Thank you for taking the time to read this. I promise I will continue this story!**

**Thanks, Sabre Dae**

**xxx**


	18. Uh Huh Huh

**A/N:I'd like to take a tiny moment to thank you all for being so understanding about the priority of my exams. Also, if you're still here reading this story, you are A-MA-ZING! I was going to wait till Sunday to upload this like usual, but I literally couldn't wait. It's a celebration of the end of my exams. Now I just have to sit and worry about whether I failed...  
><strong>

**This chapter serves to introduce Emily to multiple things: Elvis, Halloween and parties. I hope you'll all like it. Sometime near October I will, if this story is still going, write another Halloween scene to include Emily going trick or treating with the kids. Please leave a review to let me know what you thought.**

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><p><strong>Uh Huh Huh<strong>

"Come on, Emily. You have to come out – you look perfect," Matt called through their closed bedroom door.

"Really?" Emily asked doubtfully, looking at herself in their mirror. Drawing Vera Lynn from the hat of names hadn't worried Emily. But now that she was dressed like her, Emily couldn't help feeling she would look ridiculous next to everyone else. Abby had already shown her her Lady Gaga costume and it was extravagant whilst Emily's outfit was boring.

"Really," he confirmed.

Emily took a deep breath and opened the door, allowing Matt into the bedroom.

Matt's jaw dropped the second he saw her. She looked simply astonishing. Her hair framed her face in perfect, sweetheart curls, complimenting her rosy cheeks and clear skin. Her eyes were surrounded by thick lashes that lured Matt towards her until she was wrapped in his arms.

"Vera Lynn was one pretty lady," he told her.

Emily rubbed her cheek against the smooth satin of his shirt and mumbled, "Who're you going as?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"If it was, would I ask?"

"Yeah, you're right. Well, I want to wait to see everyone else's reaction before I tell you…"

Emily rolled her eyes and picked her bag up from the bed. "Come on, let's go or we'll be the last ones there." She paused in the doorway and asked, "Oh, you paid Kirsty right?"

"Yes, Emily, I've paid the babysitter," Matt replied, gently pushing her out the doorway, "and before you ask, Robert will be completely fine with Kirsty. Abby recommended her."

"Okay, I'll just be one minute."

Emily bustled into the adjacent room and bent over her ten month old son who was peacefully sleeping in his cot. She softly kissed his cheek, savouring the soft scent that still surrounded him, and returned to Matt, passing twenty year old Kirsty, who was sat on the sofa and called goodbye to them.

The drive to the ARC was filled with Emily needlessly worrying about her infant son and Matt was constantly trying to reassure her. But he understood her worries – it was the first time she had left him since he'd been born.

When they arrived at the ARC, the party was in full swing – music blaring from the speakers and staff swaying under the temporary disco ball Jess had managed to persuade Lester to put up. The afro of someone dressed as Michael Jackson was visible from quite some distance away and someone had even gone as far as to dress as Kylie Minogue in her Can't Get You Out Of My Head video and was surrounded by back-up dancers, each dressed in a similar fashion with those ridiculous hats.

Jess' music legends theme for their Halloween party was certainly going down a hit. Matt scanned the room and finally spotted Connor and Abby laughing and doing stupid dance moves like 'big fish, little fish, cardboard box'. The pair of them weren't well matched in terms of costume – whilst Abby was wearing an exaggeratedly large dress covered in tea-cups, Connor had covered his hair in a black hat and wore a grey blazer with his jeans. He was also wearing a pair of square, thick black glasses with the lenses taken out. Around his neck, lying against his back, he had hung an electric guitar, though Matt doubted he had the ability to play the instrument as well as Elvis Costello.

"Whoa!" Connor said as soon as he noticed them coming towards him. "Emily's a lady!"

Abby snorted and replied jokingly, "And the fact that her name is Lady Emily Merchant had nothing to do with you coming to that conclusion?"

"You know what I mean. Look at her-you. It's one fantastic looking costume."

Abby nodded and hugged Emily as Matt clapped Connor on the back.

"You seen Becker, mate?"

"Nah. He and Jess disappeared very early on. Not surprising considering she came as Marilyn Monroe, if you get my drift," Connor answered, going back to his dance moves, jerking his head and framing his face with his hands whilst he dug his teeth into his bottom lip.

"Aren't you going to do the voice, Matt?" Abby asked as she held Connor's hands to his sides to stop any more of his embarrassing dance moves.

"I'm saving it for later. Apparently Jess wants everyone to do karaoke – you have to sing who you came as – so it's my finale piece. You'll have to wait like everyone else."

"Come on, mate, just one 'uh huh huh.'"

"Sorry, Connor."

Connor grumbled and stalked away, probably going to sulk in his lab whilst Abby cheered him up.

Matt turned and found Emily staring at him with an appraising eye, though looking embarrassed to have been caught staring at a particular part of his anatomy, and in public no less.

Matt grinned and kissed her, wrapping his arms around her slim waist once more.

"Come on, let's go find Jess. I can't wait to see what Becker let her dress him in."

Emily nodded and followed Matt through the crowd of dancing ARC employees. They soon found Jess and Becker in one of the corridors jokingly bickering over their costumes. Becker was dressed to look like Johnny Cash whilst Jess wore the iconic white halterneck dress of Marilyn Monroe.

"Jess," Becker argued, "Marilyn Monroe isn't a music legend. She was an actress."

"But she released a single."

"That doesn't make her a legend. You just wanted to be able to wear that dress. And why did you have to give me these ridiculous shoes?"

"Those are lovely shoes," Matt smirked.

Becker scowled whilst Jess cooed over Emily in her costume.

"I must say, everybody looks spectacular," Emily commented as Jess led her back into the party.

"Oh, just wait, Emily, Sarah and the other Secretaries aren't even here yet. They're coming as the Spice Girls!"

"The Spice Girls?"

"Yep," Jess answered, too caught up in her own excitement to realise that Emily had no idea what she was talking about. "We've even got someone dressed as Meatloaf, Jodie came as Dolly Parton with the fake breasts and all, and Tony from the kitchens is Mick Jagger – dancing and all I'll have you know. The only person I haven't seen is Lester."

"You expect Mr Lester to dress up?"

Becker snorted from behind them. "Now _that _is something I would pay to see."

"Quite a lucrative business, I should imagine," Matt replied.

"We have to find him a costume then," Becker said, turning and heading to Lester's office. Jess took Emily's hand and dragged her after him, worried about what exactly he was planning.

"I'm thinking David Bowie," he said to Matt as they ploughed through the corridor, effortlessly pushing open the double doors.

"Yes!"

A voice behind them drew them all to a halt. "I was planning something more sophisticated, along the lines of Sinatra, perhaps."

"Sir?" Becker asked, sure he had misheard his boss.

"But if Miss Parker has a costume, perhaps I shall go as David Bowie. My wife has been pestering me for quite some time about living a little. She's here tonight so this ought to please her."

Emily and Jess stared at one another, whilst Becker and Matt blinked, sure they were dreaming.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Becker asked, shooting Matt a confused glance before pacing down the corridor to where Lester stood.

"Of course," he answered brusquely, already back to his usual self.

"So you want us to get you a costume?" Jess asked, siding with Becker in the feeling that there had to be something wrong with their boss. By all accounts Jess was worried that he was drunk.

"How much clearer could I bear, Miss Parker? I would like you to find me a costume and bring it to my office where I could change."

Jess gaped as Lester strode past them, heading for his office. As soon as he was out of earshot Becker fell to his knees before Jess.

"Please get him a Bowie costume. Please."

Jess looked torn.

"But what if he punishes us for it in the morning?" Her teeth roved over her bottom lip, sinking into every few seconds as she deliberated over what costume she would give Lester.

Before long Matt stepped in to help. "How about we just see what costume supplies we have left and then decide who we'll make Lester? You left the rest of the costume bits in the locker rooms didn't you, Jess?"

Jess nodded and smiled, turning on her slim heels and gliding back along the corridor towards the locker rooms.

"And I know for a fact," Matt continued in an undertone, "that the Bowie costume stuff is still there." Becker laughed and clapped him on the back as Emily drew back her own hand and swatted her husband on the shoulder.

"Be nice. He's our boss."

When they reached the locker rooms, Jess grimly muttered, "Looks like it's going to be David Bowie after all. We've only got the one costume left."

"Yes," Becker crowed.

"Why don't you go back to the party and start up the karaoke whilst I take this back to Lester?" Jess suggested.

Becker, Matt and Emily returned to the party to find the karaoke already in full swing with Sarah, Joanna, Rebecca, Katherine and Rachel – the secretaries – on stage belting out the lyrics to 'Who Do You Think You Are?' by the Spice Girls.

"Who's going next?" Becker shouted to Connor.

Connor shrugged and cheered loudly for the girls as their song came to an end.

As the five secretaries traipsed off stage, each dressed in an iconic Spice Girls outfit, Connor relayed who had already had their turn. "You even missed Abby's rendition of Bad Romance."

The crowd of employees turned impatient as no-one took to the stage.

"Matt, I think your time has come."

"Right, so I just tell the DJ which track do I, Connor?"

Connor nodded and smirked at Abby.

Sighing, Matt pressed a quick kiss to Emily's temple and slipped through the crowd to the stage.

Emily frowned slightly as Abby whispered something that caused both Becker and Connor to fall about laughing. But her worrying was cut short by the beginning of some music as Matt turned and moved towards the edge of the stage.

After he finished singing, Matt said in an Elvis style voice, "Thank you very much."

Before Matt could step down from the stage, someone barged past Emily, Abby and Connor and began pushing through the crowd. Any protests died in their mouths when they saw who it was.

Lester was making his way towards the stage, wearing a ginger mullet wig. His face was covered with a blue and red lightning bolt. Each person he passed quietened in astonishment.

Once at the stage, Lester almost physically manhandled Matt down and then turned to speak to the DJ. The opening chords of Space Oddity filled the room, and the ARC staff were frozen as Lester began singing, his voice surprisingly good.

_Ground control to Major Tom_

_Ground control to Major Tom_

_Take your protein pills and put your helmet on_

_Ground control to Major Tom_

_Commencing countdown, engines on_

_Check ignition and may God's love be with you_

"And every Halloween is like this?" Emily asked, finally breaking the silence amongst the group of friends.

"No," Abby answered. "Usually it's about horror movies and trick or treating. I think I'll be going back to that next year – unless Connor wets his pants again-"

"-Oi!" interrupted Connor. "I didn't wet my pants!"

"This has just been too weird," Abby finished as though Connor had never spoken.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you enjoyed this. It was certainly fun to write. **


	19. You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

**A/N: It struck me that I haven't done a scene from this kind of time period for a while. I would seriously like to thank my best friend, Sarcastic-Bones (who is amazing, by the way), for giving me this idea yesterday. I hope you'll like it. It's only a short chapter, but in my defence the last one was mammoth! (See what I did there?)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Primeval or any of the characters. Wish I did – we would have already had a series 6 and there would have been no horrid cliff-hanger at the end of series 5.**

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><p><strong>You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet<strong>

Matt sighed as he entered the apartment, leading the way for the beautiful lady behind him. It was late and he had to fumble to find the light switch, groping along the wall for it.

When he finally found it, Emily had entered the flat and was wondering why Matthew preferred to live in darkness. Even in her time they had lights. Suddenly, the flat was flooded with light and she gasped, turning to face Matt, confused by how he'd turned all the lights on at once without having to light the gas bulbs.

"How did you do that?" she breathed.

Matt tapped the casing of the light switch and smiled, watching Emily come closer to inspect it.

Hesitantly, she pressed the switch down, shutting off the lights. She jumped at the expectancy of it, before lightly turning the lights back on. Astounded by her new discovery she proceeded to rapidly turn the lights on and off about fifty times whilst Matt simply smiled at the simple endearing side of the behaviour. It was like man discovering fire for the first time – unable to leave the discovery alone, constantly setting fire to branches then putting it out with water only to relight it by rubbing two sticks together.

"What is this magic?" Emily asked delightedly, earnestly fascinated by the magic box of light her new friend had.

Matt gave a brief laugh before answering, "If you think that's magic, you ain't seen nothing yet."

Emily frowned as Matt walked away and towards a notch on the wall near the sofa. Twiddling it between his thumbs, he dimmed the lights, causing Emily to stare around in wonder.

"And, that's not all. You can also get lights that turn on and off when you clap."

In response to his words, Emily clapped her hands together but nothing happened.

"Why isn't it working?" she asked, as disappointed as a child without any presents on Christmas Day.

"Unfortunately I had to uninstall my clap-on. Every time Connor was round here, he'd accidentally turn all the lights off. At least I hope he was doing it accidentally," Matt added as an afterthought.

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><p><strong>AN: So like I said, it's really short. All the same, I hope you liked it. I'd love to see some reviews to let me know what you guys thought. I know you probably prefer longer chapters, I just didn't have as much time this week now that my teachers are all giving me homework again because my exams are over. Clearly I'm not meant to have a life outside of school. Anyway, let me know what you thought!**


	20. Surprise

**A/N: A little family scene, this one. I hope you'll enjoy it. I can't believe I've nearly written 20 of these! I've got a small favour to ask - this time when you review can you tell me your favourite band or singer please. I need one for a future chapter of this story and can't think of a good one to use. Thanks so much to those of you have reviewed so far - you are all amazing!**

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><p><strong>Surprise!<strong>

Emily bustled past the shoppers, carrying an ample amount of bags filled to the brim with the weeks food shopping. In each hand she had four carrier bags and their weight was luckily evenly balanced, otherwise she feared she would have fallen over as she made her way out to the car.

But despite her apparent good luck, Emily wasn't happy. Matthew had said he would go shopping with her at the weekend to get enough food for the kids packed lunches and the week's dinners. But there she was alone. When she'd mentioned their need for food that morning, he'd insisted she should go alone and that she needed to be more independent.

Clearly her husband was just too lazy to contemplate going out shopping in the January snow season. London was chilly that morning, but it was nothing Emily and her Victorian upbringing couldn't handle. After all she'd survived many snow filled winters in little more than one of her velveteen dresses. They were thick but that had never stopped the breeze travelling underneath her skirt and up her stocking covered legs.

Still, she eventually managed to cross the perilous car park, dodging patches of ice, and made it to the car in one piece. It may have taken longer in the boots Jess had bought her at Christmas, but she was getting better at walking in such ridiculously heeled shoes every day.

It wasn't long before the bags were in the boot, and she was peeling off her gloves to be able to grip the steering wheel. Before she knew it, Emily was back at the house.

She glanced up at the whitewashed front, with the ivy creeping up towards her and Matt's bedroom window, and smiled. It was truly beautiful. Outside the door, propped alongside the low wall, were her two children's bikes. The garden was covered in a thick; but fine mist of snow, although that was no longer pristine and untouched. Instead, footprints had been crunched into the snow and there were even deep holes from snow angels. Beside the apple tree sat a broad snow man, complete with a carrot for a nose and a top-hat and scarf. All in all, it just looked like home.

Emily grabbed the bags from the car and set off down the path, which Matt had managed to keep clear of snow by placing grit down it. She beeped the car, locking the doors and somehow, despite her hands being full, managed to open the front door.

"Surprise!" came a loud shout from what sounded like multiple people.

Emily gasped and jumped in fright, nearly dropping all the bags. She lowered them to the ground just in time to catch her two children, nine year old Robert and six year old Lily, as they came running down the hall towards her, arms already outstretched to hug her tightly.

Matt followed at a more leisurely pace and kissed her cheek. Behind him, crowded in the living room doorway, stood all their friends.

"You did all this?" she asked in shock.

Matt nodded. "Although, Lily here nearly gave the game away," he added, looking down at his daughter. "I'm still surprised she managed to keep it all a secret in the end."

Lily giggled and tightened her arms around Emily's waist.

"Thank you," Emily smiled, running a hand through both Lily and Robert's hair.

Matt looped his hands through the bag handles and led the way back into the living room to drop the shopping on the dining room table.

"Does this mean we can finally start eating the crisps?" Robert called to his dad, following him and barging rudely through the guests.

Emily rolled her eyes and unzipped her coat, hanging it on the peg beside the rest of her family's. Next her boots came off and Lily took them to put them on the rack in the cupboard under the stairs. Job done, she took Emily's hand and towed her into the living room to join the party.

Whilst Matt busied himself in the dining room, setting out some more food, Emily made the rounds and thanked everyone for turning up.

"Oh, don't worry about it," Abby said, already holding a glass of wine. "It was no trouble at all, except trying to keep Connor from blurting out about all this – that was hard."

Connor elbowed his wife lightly, and swept their youngest son up into his arms, tickling him and laughing.

Jess and Becker soon joined them, leaving the other soldiers they were talking to to amuse themselves. It was only Lester who didn't come to talk with his staff members and left ten minutes after Emily had returned home. Though there was a rather large gift from him sat on the coffee table ready for Emily to open. She wondered what it could be, but decided to wait to open her presents till after everyone had gone.

She was still talking to everyone thirty minutes later when Matt walked up behind her and slung his arms about her waist, leaning his chin on her shoulder. Her hand came up to hold the back of his head and she turned her face and kissed him.

"Yuck!" Robert exclaimed from where he sat, hogging the sofa.

Matt smirked and yelled back, "You'll understand when you're older, mate."

"Oh, believe me, it'll be worse then," Connor remarked. "Nick's twelve and he's already lusting after fifteen year old girls. All he thinks about it women!"

"And you're telling me you weren't the same at his age?" Becker asked, eyebrows raised like normal.

Connor shrugged. "There's still only one girl for me."

Jess awed at them as Abby and Connor kissed, holding Sam, their three year old son, between them. Becker meanwhile, rolled his eyes.

"Don't be an emotional retard," Jess berated, one hand on his hips.

"Sorry," Becker replied, taking her hand and squeezing it as he placed a light kiss on her cheek.

It may have taken him almost fifteen years, but he'd come a long way since he was the stoic soldier who never talked about his feelings.

"Dad," groaned his own son, Mark.

Jess grinned evilly, and called, "Come here, Mark."

Mark looked up, saw the glint in his mother's eyes and took off running, diving between Jess' legs and swerving past all the other guests. Jess chased after him, puckering her lips and playing with her son.

"Well that was a surprise," Matt muttered in Emily's ear.

Emily nodded. "But I think I could grow to like surprises, don't you?"

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><p><strong>AN: So I'd love to know what you thought about this chapter and please, please, please tell me your favourite band or singer!**


	21. Unrestrained and Free

**A/N: This one was a request from shepweir always, who wanted to see Emily's first time on the London Eye. I hope you'll like it. I'm still considering bands, but if there was anyone who didn't tell me their favourite band/artist, please do!**

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><p><strong>Unrestrained and Free<strong>

Why Connor had insisted she go sightseeing, she didn't know. Some things were age-old – like the Tower of London. Nothing was new about that, except in her time people couldn't enter in. Why anyone would want to, was another thing that Emily couldn't quite understand. It was a well-known fact that people had died and been tortured there, so what was the appeal?

Still, Emily duly visited the Tower, grimacing at the tools of torture and the gory stories the tour guides avidly told.

Glancing down at Connor's list of must-see places, she saw Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. Sighing, she realised Connor mustn't have done his history. All of these places, she had seen before – from the outside at least. Of course, in her time women weren't allowed anywhere near the Houses of Parliament or 10 Downing Street. The lure of defying the social and cultural boundaries of her time was too strong and Emily found herself getting on board the tour bus and heading to Parliament. She wasn't surprised by the inner grandeur and the marble busts that adorned the building. It was everything she had expected.

Still, she enjoyed her moment of cheeky bravery as she sat upon the one of the red leather seats in the House of Lords before being promptly told off.

Grinning to herself, Emily imagined what her husband might say if he could see her now. Words probably weren't even likely. Emily was certain that Henry would have quite happily had her arrested.

After that, she hit Covent Garden, enjoying the quaint shops she found there. She purchased a Blue Willow tea set, ready to convert Matthew to a tea-drinker.

Then she got back on the bus and headed to Marble Arch, looking up at the detailed, carved marble in wonder. She'd seen it before, when it had stood infront of the newly completed Buckingham Palace, but it still amazed her. Trafalgar Square was the next stop, where Emily enjoyed being stood in a mass of flying pigeons. There certainly hadn't been as many in Victorian England. Over the other side of the river, the tourists were given an hour to explore the Tate Modern, which was filled with painting after painting, all of which caught Emily's eye. She particularly loved the cubist paintings, which were worlds apart from the drab, personality-less art of her time. Afterwards, the tour guides shepherded her and the other tourists back onto the bus and headed for the Natural History Museum. Inside, she enjoyed looking at the ancient dinosaur skeletons, thinking of how frightening the real things looked in comparison. She was also interested in the geological sections on earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, having never seen or experienced one.

After an hour in the museum and thirty minutes next door at the Science Museum, Emily knew she would have to come back to have a proper look around. But for the tour guides, their job was done as they handed the guests over to a new man, Eddie, who loaded them onto a boat and set about showing them the sights down the River Thames. The Gherkin was a particularly interesting sight, in addition to the skyscrapers that had developed throughout the city. Eddie was particularly good at providing the back stories of Tower Bridge, which interested Emily to no end.

But before long the river cruise was over and Emily was stepping gratefully back onto dry land, ready for the final stop. The bus took her to Jubilee Gardens, where Emily stared up at the structure in horror. She wasn't afraid of heights, per se, but it was awfully large and didn't look at all safe. The London Eye ticket she had allowed her to view London in the dark evening light.

Steeling her nerves, Emily stepped aboard the moving pod and waited for the other tourists to join her. Whilst they gabbled in French, German, Japanese and a host of other languages, Emily silently watched the sights. Her heart stopped racing as the pod slowly made the climb around the wheel, allowing her to see London lit up in the black sky.

When the pod finally came back down and she was stood on the ground again, Emily couldn't quite believe how lucky she was. It wasn't every day you saw such wondrous things. Perhaps she would thank Connor after all for such an enjoyable day. Not only had she witnessed and seen what she never had before, but she had also been able to spend the day walking about the city, unrestrained and free.

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><p><strong>AN: So, just Emily alone in this one. I'd love to know what you thought so let me know with a review. Also keep your favourite bands/singers coming. I want a good selection to make my decision from. Thanks for reading!**


	22. Valentine's Day

**A/N: I planned a different update than this one, but thought that as it is Valentine's Day today, I should probably write something for it. Therefore, I've merged this one with the one I was going to write and upload. I hope you like it. **

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><p><strong>Valentine's Day<strong>

Valentine's Day had been an established holiday in Emily's era, but Henry hadn't believed in celebrating it, after all he hadn't married her for love but for economic gain from her father. Jess had been horrified to learn that whilst all of her friends received elaborate cards, she got nothing from her husband and had hurried to tell Matt that he had to plan something extra special for his Valentine's Day with Emily.

Playing Cupid, she had even booked them both the day off work, smoothing things over with Lester. It meant that Jess would spend all day at the ARC, but so would Becker. Maybe she could wear something a little bit special for him, or maybe he would jump the gun and give her a card, if it wasn't too much to hope for.

But Emily wasn't particularly bothered about Valentine's Day. It was a celebration for people who weren't actually together, wasn't it? If anyone should be celebrating it, it should have been the Captain and the young Miss Parker. Whilst she and Matt were by no means married or engaged, they _were_ a happy couple who were still deeply in love.

Matt, however, had no idea of Emily's concerns and had forged ahead with planning a fabulous day, starting with breakfast in bed for the lady. Then he was going to cook a romantic evening meal, complete with rose petals on the table, and propose. He was also preparing deliveries of flowers, chocolates and Valentine's bears. He was sure Jess would find it satisfactory.

So, as Valentine's morning arrived, Emily lay in bed awake, completely unaware of what the day had in store for her. Matthew had risen before her and disappeared, though she wasn't worried or surprised because he would often get up before her and go for a run. What did surprise Emily, however, was when the bedroom door swung slowly open, admitting Matt into their bedroom.

In his hands he carried a tray with two steaming cups of tea, a rack of toast and some butter and jam to spread on top.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he murmured as he crawled onto the bed beside her and placed a sweet kiss on her cheek.

"Matt, you shouldn't have-"

"-Yes, I should. Today's about treating you," he insisted.

As he picked up a piece of toast and took a bite, the doorbell rang and he grinned, thinking, 'Delivery number one on time,' as he went to answer the door.

Emily could hear the quiet discussion at the door, but had no idea who was there. She was pleasantly surprised when Matt opened the door again with a massive bouquet of flowers in his arms. There were roses, tulips, chrysanthemums, an orchid, lilies and twenty other beautiful flowers she didn't know the names of.

"Matt-" she tried.

"Ah, I don't want to hear it," he warned.

Emily sighed and continued demurely sipping her cup of tea. If Matt wanted to spoil her, she would just have to let him. Any protest, she reckoned, would be an insult to his ego.

Matt sat back down on the bed, still holding the flowers, and waited patiently for Emily to finish her breakfast before eagerly springing up and giving her the bouquet.

She smiled and sniffed them appreciatively.

"Don't forget about the card," Matt called as he left the bedroom and went to ring up to check on his next delivery. It should have arrived five minutes ago, and he didn't want anything to spoil the day he'd planned.

Emily looked up at his retreated figure for a moment before looking back down at the bouquet and plucking out the small card nestled in beside a lovely white rose.

Written in swift cursive, were the words, _To my dearest Emily, may this Valentine's Day bring you happiness, joy, love and everything you've ever wished for. Matt. X_

A soft 'Aww' fell from Emily's lips and once more she brought the flowers to her face to smell their wonderful fragrance. Matt truly was being too kind to her today.

Little did she know it wasn't over yet. As Matt hung up the phone, Emily walked out of the bedroom, wrapping her dressing gown about her and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Then the doorbell rang again.

Confused, Emily glanced at Matt and noticed his slight smirk. He definitely looked suspicious.

Still looking at him, Emily took the chain off the door and opened it, finding herself face to face with a massive teddy bear. It was four feet tall and carried a red heart that said 'Be my Valentine' in its arms.

The delivery man shoved the bear into Emily's arms, crossed off the number on his list and left without saying a word.

Emily squashed any qualms she had over why she, a grown woman, would want a teddy bear and focused on the grand size of Matt's gesture. He seemed desperate to show his love for her today.

Matt grinned at the look of disbelief on her face and pulled her, teddy and all, into a hug.

"Is that all the surprises over?"

Matt snorted and refused to answer, inadvertently giving Emily the truth.

Seconds later someone knocked on the door.

Emily shot Matt a mock glare as she put the teddy on the floor and opened the door again, this time finding herself standing with her hands on her hips in front of a teenager carrying a large basket filled with sweet goodies and wrapped in cellophane with a big pink bow tied around it.

He handed it over with a nod and a wink and left just as silently as the delivery man before him.

"Matt, this is too much-" Emily tried.

"I swear you won't have to answer the door another time," he offered, taking the wicker basket from her and setting it down on the kitchen counter beside the door.

Emily sighed and relented, shooting him a shy smile. After spending so long in an unhappy, loveless marriage, Emily found it hard to accept Matt's love.

"Now," Matt began, winding his arms around her again and leaning his chin on her shoulder. Emily reached behind her and ruffled his growing hair, enjoying the slight scratch of his stubble against her smooth cheek. "Why don't you sit on the sofa and put on a film whilst I cook up something delicious? Jess has been asking me for forever to introduce you to Pretty Woman. The DVD's already loaded up, just hit play."

Emily turned in his arms, kissed him briefly, and sauntered away, aware of his eyes following her all the way to the cream leather sofa.

As Emily watched the film, Matt sweated in the kitchen, chopping, dicing, boiling, sautéing, roasting and setting the table. Over the wooden surface he laid a pure white tablecloth, then retrieved the rose petals he'd stowed under the bathroom sink and threw them over the table in what he hoped was an artful manner. Then he set the candelabra in the centre of the table and lit the five candles. He set the two places and dished up the traditional roast dinner.

"Emily," he called.

She turned around, leaning on the sofa and gasped. Everything looked truly beautiful.

"Oh, Matt…"

He grinned and took her hand, leading her around the sofa and to her chair.

"My lady," he murmured, bending to kiss her hand.

Emily laughed lightly as he stood and walked around to his own seat.

Now that the time was drawing near, Matt was beginning to feel nervous. The ring tucked into his shirt pocket was beginning to feel like it weighed a tonne, but he distracted himself by tucking into the dinner and watching Emily the entire time.

He loved the slight blush that arose as she realised he was staring at her, and her inability to keep eye contact with him.

When they finished eating, Matt stood under the pretence of clearing the dishes away and walked around to her end of the table. She smiled up at him, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Then, suddenly, they were on a level as he knelt on one knee and placed the ring on the table in front of her.

Her eyes widened as she took in the slim ring and the single diamond that sat atop it.

"Matt?" she asked, turning to look at him in shock. Her heart had stopped and her voice was barely a whisper.

"Emily," he replied, his eyes alit with humour. "I love you, I always will. I would be honoured if you would agree to be my wife and spend the rest of your life with me. So, will you marry me?"

Her eyes streamed as she held eye contact with him. Her mouth was fixed in a watery smile as she breathed her reply in his ear.

Matt's heart stopped and he picked up the ring, looking only at his love. With painstaking slowness he slid the ring onto her finger and kissed her with as much love and passion as he could muster.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Emily," he whispered, still grinning like a lunatic with one of his hands resting on her neck. She returned the sentiment with a blinding smile, her eyes still looking like liquid, and pressed her lips against his.

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><p><strong>AN: So, happy Valentine's Day everyone! Review and let me know what you think.**


	23. Tea Lady

**A/N: For YouHaveLovelyHair, who read and reviewed 20 odd chapters in a single day. I hope you all like it. I would just briefly like to say thank you for all the reviews! Over 100! I'm so impressed. **

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><p><strong>Tea Lady<strong>

The game was up. Matthew's boss knew Emily was living with him. She was to be brought into the ARC until further notice. After just winning her freedom from that terrible tomb, she was to be a prisoner again.

He'd been quiet, almost dejected, during the car ride to the ARC facilities and Emily couldn't help feeling worried. What if these people decided to kill her? What did they want with her?

As she entered the building, she could feel everyone's eyes on her. The young, auburn-haired girl in particular seemed very curious about her, but there was barely time for an introduction before Matt swept her into Lester's office. The bureaucrat was pacing, obviously angry over the whole debacle.

"Does the word superior mean nothing to you, Mr Anderson?" he demanded. "I am your superior, your boss, and as such you should obey my orders. I told you to bring the girl to the ARC a week ago, and instead you took her to your home!"

Matt stared impassively ahead of him whilst Lester ranted, his words seemingly having no effect. Emily, on the other hand, found it impossible to be still and the man's rage wasn't even directed at her. She glanced once out the window and found that no less than ten people's eyes were on her, including those of the young blonde girl who had helped Matthew distract Becker when he wanted to search for her. Abby shot her a brief smile and returned to whatever task she was working on.

Finally, Lester finished shouting and sent Matt away. As he left, Matt gave Emily's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, but Emily had no idea why she was required to stay behind.

Lester sighed and fell into his chair, loosening his tie. His pink cheeks gradually returned to their normal pigmentation, and reached into the bottom drawer of his desk. He pulled out an empty whisky bottle and dropped it into the bin in disgust. When he'd finished it, he had no idea. More likely, Connor had probably let loose a creature out of the menagerie which had been only too happy to waltz into the Director of the ARC's office and down the last dregs of his precious whisky.

Emily watched him in silence as he lamented the loss of the only thing that could keep him sane when he was at work.

"Would you believe, Ms Merchant," he said out of the blue, "that not one of my members of staff is capable of making a perfect cup of Earl Grey?"

Trying to be polite, Emily kindly offered to make him a cup.

As he blew on the steaming cup and took a sip, a moment of inner peace descended on Lester. It truly was the best cup of tea he had ever had the pleasure to drink. Better even than any of his wife's, though he wasn't about to advertise that fact. It was one sure-fire way of ensuring he spent the night sleeping on the sofa.

"Absolutely wonderful, Ms Merchant," he congratulated, taking another large sip.

It wasn't long before he had finished his cup and was desperate for another.

Emily noticed the craving in his eyes, smiled and headed back down to the rec room to prepare another cup.

When she returned, James Lester was on his feet. He crossed the room, took the cup from her and tentatively smelt it, wondering if it was possible for it to be as perfect as his last cup. It smelt just right, and although the tea scolded his tongue slightly – for he forgot to blow over it – it tasted even better than the previous cup.

"Ms Merchant, I have a business proposition for you. How does a position within the ARC sound?"

Warily Emily replied, "What sort of position?"

"Why, my tea lady, of course!"

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><p><strong>AN: Just a short scene of light humour because, let's face it, nobody knows what to do with Emily. She's forever the tea lady of the ARC. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you thought. **


	24. Moshing

**A/N: It's been long in coming, but I've finally gotten round to writing this chapter. Thank you so much for telling me your favourite bands. In the end I picked The Fray (Captain Fedo's favourite band) because it was the first review I got, but tried to work at least one of everyone's suggestions into the chapter. Luckily for me T in the Park is a cross-genre music festival. **

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><p><strong>Moshing<strong>

Emily and Matt packed their bags and headed off early for the T in the Park festival. Jess and Becker had given them tickets for Matt's birthday as his favourite band, The Fray, were headlining on the Saturday. But the festival started on Friday evening and they had tickets that covered the entire three days.

They had a long way to go to get to Balado near Glasgow, but it would be worth it. Not only would Matt get to see his favourite band live, but Emily would be going to her first festival and it would be an experience she would be unlikely to ever forget.

When they arrived at the festival grounds, they pitched their tent and rolled out their double sleeping bag inside, before sitting out in two camping chairs with a glass of wine and a small picnic.

"Happy birthday, Matt," Emily murmured to him, toasting her glass.

He smiled and drank, secretly toasting to her. What did it matter to him if his birthday was good? All he wanted was good things for Emily. They'd been trying for a baby for a while – not that they'd told anyone – and though she hadn't said anything, Matt knew their lack of success was beginning to worry Emily. As he blew out the candles on his miniature birthday cake, Matt wished for a child, anything to please his wife.

That evening they were in the crowd, cheering as Adele took to the Main Stage and kicked off with _Set Fire to the Rain _and _Someone Like You. _

They stuck around to watch James Morrison, the Kings of Leon and Muse before heading over to another stage for Young the Giant, the Hoosiers and the Kooks.

After seven hours' worth of performances, they walked back to the campsite, elated and slightly inebriated by champagne and wine, to tumble into bed, wrapped sweetly in each other's arms. They were woken the next morning by the loud noises of the stampede of people rushing to the arena in preparation for the day's concerts and began getting dressed hurriedly, eager to see the Fray.

But as the headlining act of the day, they weren't on first, and Emily and Matt found themselves caught up in the mosh pit associated with Slipknot.

"Help! Matt!" Emily called desperately, as the jumping crowd separated her from Matt, almost knocking her to the floor.

"Emily!" Matt shouted, shoving people aside and apparently only making the situation worse. He had to move with the crowd, he discovered, trying to jump forwards and side to side as the people around him did. In his rush to save her, he didn't consider the fact that if Emily was capable of hunting down a raptor with kitchen knives, then she could probably free herself from a rowdy crowd. Though, it was highly unlikely Emily had such tools with her to use anyway.

Eventually, he made his way to Emily, where she jumped lightly up and down, smiling nervously at the hard-core fans around her.

Matt leaned out and caught her arm, giving her a scare in the deafening music. Somehow, she'd been carried almost to the stage, literally standing only two rows back. With their interlinked hands, Emily brought Matt forwards.

For the remainder of the set, they jumped together. In their proximity and shared experience they didn't even feel out of place whilst surrounded by the hundreds of die-hard fans, many of which appeared to be in their late teens and early twenties.

As the set drew to a close, the band announced the Fray and Emily shot Matt an excited smile which he quickly returned. When the crowd began to move and jump again, they were experts at using the bouncing to navigate to the front row, and Emily touched the lead singer's hand as he knelt down on the stage and leaned towards the singing fans.

As they sang ballad _How to Save a Life _Matt wrapped his arms about Emily's midriff, kissed the crown of her head and swayed them from side to side, gently singing the lyrics into her ear.

They were both sad to see the band leave the stage when their set was over. But they stayed in the crowd to watch P!nk, Lana Del Ray and were even surprised to see Lady Gage burst on stage in a luridly bright orange dress that looked like it was made of gloves. In their time at the other stages, they also saw The Saturdays singing _Notorious _at the Radio 1/NME stage and Queen performing new renditions of _Don't Stop Me Now _and _Bohemian Rhapsody. _

When they returned to the tent that night, they were laughing and running about like teenagers, high on adrenaline and energy drinks.

"Matt," Emily complained, giggling, as he caught up to her and pulled her back against him.

"Adele got it wrong," he murmured.

"What?" she asked, laughing at the gibberish he was sprouting.

"I found someone like you, so I'm going to hold onto you…"

"I think someone needs to go to bed," she laughed.

"I'm being serious, Em," he told her.

Smiling, she kissed him, smirking as she unbuckled the belt around his jeans and removed it.

"Emily," he whispered, looking around in worried horror. "If we're going to do this we should at least be in the tent surely-aaah!" Any qualms he tried to voice were over in a second when Emily whipped down his trousers and boxers and legged it to the tent, shutting the zip behind her and refusing to let him in. "Let me in," he begged, still holding his trousers in his hand. Without his belt they wouldn't stay up.

_Damn Becker! _He thought. It was the Head of Security's fault he'd lost his Christmas weight and had yet to buy jeans that fitted properly. Without his belt, his trousers would not stay up. And he was highly embarrassed by the boxers Emily had bought him as a joke birthday present. Across the back they read '_My Ass is Happy' _and he was aware of the fellow campers stares.

Finally, Emily unzipped the tent and let him in, smiling mischievously.

"You're going to pay for that," he predicted, before kissing her and opening the sleeping bag.

Gently, he pushed her into it and began removing her clothes, kissing her deeply.

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><p><strong>AN: I hope you liked this chapter. Please let me know what you thought. Don't forget that I'm always eager to hear your ideas for possible things to introduce Emily to!**


	25. Knocked Up

**A/N: Sorry this chapter is a bit late. I've been rather busy this week with RL. I hope you like it. I've been wanting to do this one for a while now. I'd love to know what you think. **

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><p><strong>Knocked Up<strong>

Whilst the boys were enjoying a night out at the pub, a rare blue moon for them, Jess and Abby were treating Emily to a girl's night in.

The film was playing, the pizza boxes were empty and piled on the coffee table in Jess' flat, and they were too busy nattering and painting each other's nails to really pay attention to the TV screen.

Jess had painted Abby's nails a shocking red, insisted on purple for herself and then convinced Abby to paint Emily's nails in a royal blue colour. Whilst they sat either side of her, leaning against the sofa and sitting on the floor, Abby painting carefully and Jess just talking quickly and eagerly, Emily finally got a chance to look at the film. She had no idea what it was, and so far all she had been able to gather was that a professional woman had gone clubbing with her sister and met a stupid looking man.

Of course, one thing had led to another, as it so often did in modern society, and predictably, the young woman and man had ended up in bed together.

But it was what happened next that interested Emily.

For a few weeks she had been feeling out of sorts. Tired and crabby, she'd been bickering incessantly with Matt over the stupidest of things. She was acting irrationally, Matt kept saying, and seemed to be over-emotional all the time. Not only that, but she woke feeling queasy every morning. The symptoms weren't unknown to her. She was able to guess what was afflicting her from discussions with her older friends in the Victorian era. But she had no way to be sure, she thought.

Until she saw the pregnancy test scene.

Turning to Abby, she asked, "What's that?"

"What?" Abby murmured, not looking up from Emily's hand.

"On the television."

Jess and Abby both looked up.

"Oh, it's a pregnancy test," Jess told her.

"Yeah," Abby continued. "It's an early way to tell if you're pregnant."

Emily nodded, trying to hide her emotions. She could be sure!

"Why?" Jess asked, scrutinising Emily's facial expression.

"Just curious," Emily murmured.

Abby and Jess nodded, seemingly satisfied and returned to their conversation, talking about whether Jess should just tell Captain Becker that she liked him.

LINEBREAK

The next morning, after barely sleeping, Emily got up and crept out of the flat. She didn't want to wake Matt. If she was going to do it, she wanted – and needed – privacy. She knew it was wrong to keep him in the dark, but it was something she had to do by herself.

When she came back, with the fruits of her shopping in a paper bag from the pharmacy, he was still soundly asleep. Padding barefoot to the bathroom, she quietly shut the door and locked it. Taking a deep breath, she opened the bag, the crinkle of the paper as loud as gunshots whilst her heart thudded and beat quicker than usual.

Everything was simple, the pharmacist had said. Anything she needed to know, she would find on the cardboard box, so she made sure to read every inch of it, looking at every letter and word, before opening it with shaking hands.

She followed the instructions to the letter, and then waited. And waited. And waited. She waited for what felt like longer than she had ever waited before. And still she waited, until finally the ten minutes were up, and with her breath caught in her throat, she glanced down at the test.

Instantly, her eyes watered and whilst one of her hands covered her mouth in shock, the other fluttered to her stomach, as if she would feel the life growing there underneath it.

She was pregnant. She couldn't believe it.

But how would she tell Matt? They'd only been married a month; would he really want a child already?

For the next few days, Emily kept the information to herself, deliberating over how to phrase the sentence, 'I'm pregnant.' There weren't many options, she knew. It was simple really. But she was afraid. Worried of what would happen if Matt didn't want a child with her.

Finally after almost a week, she forced herself to sit him down. Really, she was being an idiot, wasn't she? Matt loved her – he would want to have a family with her.

"Is everything okay, Em? You don't seem yourself," he said, concern permeating his voice.

Stiffly, she nodded.

"Then what did you want to talk to me about?"

When Emily didn't answer, Matt took her hands, his thumbs reassuringly rubbing circles on her skin. Unbidden, tears sprang into her eyes and Matt's anxiety only increased. Desperately, he tried to work out what could be making her act this way. She never usually cried – her exterior was much too tough for that.

"Please, Em, just whatever it is, tell me," he begged, fearing the worst. What if she'd been diagnosed with an incurable disease. To have only been married a month, it would be terrible to lose her so soon.

Stumbling over the words, Emily finally told him. "I'm pregnant," she whispered brokenly.

Matt froze for a second, his thumbs pausing on her wrists. Emily gulped, thinking her worries confirmed. It was obvious from his reaction that Matt didn't want a child with her. What had she been thinking?

"Well that's great news," Matt enthused.

"It is?" Emily asked.

"Well, why wouldn't it be?" He stood and drew her close, his thumbs gently wiping away her tears.

"You don't want children," she accused.

"Where would you get that idea? Of course I want children."

"You do?" Emily's voice was filled with so much hope that Matt couldn't resist hugging her close and pressing his lips to hers.

"I, Matthew Anderson, do promise to you, Emily Anderson, that I want to have children with you," he whispered into her ear.

They spent the afternoon together, becoming increasingly happy and finding it hard to separate themselves from each other. When they went into work, bright and early, on Monday morning, Matt couldn't refrain from telling Becker and Connor with pride that he'd knocked up his wife.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. It's always nice to read some reviews, so let me know what you think! I'll try and update a bit quicker next time. **


	26. St Patrick's Day

**A/N: I almost forgot about this idea that Asp Pentacle97 gave me. My apologies for not writing it sooner! Anyway, since I was such a fool, I'll keep this AN short and let you all read on!**

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><p><strong>St Patrick's Day<strong>

"Come on, guys! You're such bores, honestly. I can't believe we've been working together for a year and haven't been clubbing once," Jess complained, still trying to convince the rest of the team to accompany her on a night out.

"We've already said we'll go," Connor pointed out as he indicated himself and Abby.

"But they haven't!"

"Jess," Becker placated, "if Matt and Emily don't want to go clubbing, that's their choice. Just like it's my choice not to go – I've had enough of dancing to last a life time."

"Yeah," Matt agreed. "It's our choice not to come."

"But it's St Patrick's Day!" Jess protested. "You have to celebrate!"

"And I'm going to," Matt told her," but by getting drunk on Irish Whiskey down the pub not by embarrassing myself in a club."

"Well it's too bad for you that I'm not taking no for an answer," she declared, taking hold of Becker and Matt's wrists and dragging them out of the ARC, leaving Emily to follow behind Abby and Connor as they sniggered at the two men's predicament. "I've already got you all partying outfits at the flat so that's the first stop," Jess told them all, beginning to ramble before Connor interrupted.

"How do you know our sizes?"

"It's on the files," Jess told him like it was obvious.

"Isn't that an invasion of priva-" Connor started to say before Abby raised her eyebrows at him, blatantly thinking about the time he'd looked at her personal file and knew her middle name.

Becker and Matt snorted at the momentary look of terror on Connor's face and then stumbled as Jess tugged on their wrists again, literally towing them to her car.

"Right, you two are in my car so I can make sure you don't run away," she commanded. "Emily, you're with Abby and Connor."

The group nodded, Becker and Matt groaning instead, and climbed into the two cars.

Emily felt isolated in the back of Abby's mini as Connor sat in the front, reminiscing with her about her personal file and the information he had gleaned from it.

"What was my primary school then?" Abby asked, eager to see how much he remembered.

"All Souls?"

She nodded, smiling but focusing on the road.

They pulled up outside Jess' flat just in time to watch Matt and Becker make a break for it, leaving Jess to totter after them in her heels.

"Perhaps we should help her," Emily suggested.

Abby and Connor squinted and looked down the road at the three retreating figures before saying together, "Nah, she can handle it."

There was nothing that could keep Jess from a club night – not even two pesky men.

Without waiting for Jess, the three friends let themselves into her flat, Abby and Connor using the key they had been meaning to return to her since moving out. Laid across the sofa, they found clothes labelled for everyone.

Emily pulled the post-it note off hers and surveyed the outfit.

It was green. Very green, in fact, looking similar in style to the dress Abby had worn for Jennifer's wedding.

Connor started rifling through his own clothes and exclaimed his joy as he found a green fedora with a four leaf clover on the front. Abby smirked and began to look critically at her own green bodycon dress.

"What do you reckon she's making Matt wear?" Connor asked excitedly, grinning like a lunatic and already wearing his hat.

Abby grinned back at him and, despite Emily's protestations, picked up the pile with the sticky note bearing his name. He was allowed to wear jeans and a forest green dress, it seemed. Abby had just returned the pile to the sofa when Jess returned, somehow dragging the two men who were taller and far heavier than her.

"Well don't just stand there staring," she snapped. "Get ready!"

Connor took the fedora off and glanced fearfully at Abby as he picked up his pile of clothes and headed towards the room they used to live in. Jess could be demanding, he thought with a shudder, finally sympathising with Matt, who'd looked petrified when Jess first mentioned the clubbing idea. Jess towed Becker towards her room where their clothes awaited, leaving Matt with Emily.

"We should probably do as she says," Emily murmured, picking up her dress again and running her fingers over the satin material. Whilst she busied herself in changing into it, Matt unbuttoned his shirt painfully slowly, trying to draw everything out so he wouldn't have to go. "What do you think?" she asked quietly, standing simply in front of the coffee table with her hands smoothing down the front of the dress.

Matt gaped and cleared his throat, trying to find words. She was the most beautiful leprechaun he'd ever seen, the green of the dress and matching shoes offsetting her brown eyes and pale skin. He knew he had to go now. There was no way he could let Emily out of his sight. What if someone else wanted to dance with her?

With much more nimble fingers he finished removing his shirt and doing up his green one.

Abby and Connor emerged from their old room, ready to go and the four of them waited impatiently for Jess and Becker, imagining that he was probably stubbornly refusing to change.

"You look great by the way, Emily," Abby told her as she glanced away from the door for a moment.

"Thank you," Emily replied before complementing Abby too.

"This is killing me," Connor muttered. After a few minutes of standing in silence once more, he rushed to Jess' closed door with a groan and placed his ear against it.

"Connor!" Matt and Abby reprimanded.

"What? You want to know what's going on too!"

Abby shrugged and joined him at the door.

"I can't hear anything," she hissed as Emily wandered over, also intrigued.

The three of them fell back as Becker pulled the door open and glared down at them, clearly aware of the fact that they had been listening at the door. Somehow he had managed to convince Jess to allow him to wear a pair of black trousers with his own green check shirt.

"Right, let's go," Jess said enthusiastically, walking past her three friends on the floor without even noticing them.

Matt helped Emily to her feet and shook his head at Abby and Connor. His arm was around her waist as they trailed after Jess and Becker, who still looked glum and joined them for the car journey.

When they arrived at the club, Matt was dumbfounded. He had expected recognisable music which he could dance to and instead found something faster than he had ever heard. There were no lyrics, just an electronic drum beat and some type of guitar or keyboard layered over the top.

Emily stared in wonder at the flashing lights over the bar and the strobe lights reflecting off the glitter ball hanging in the centre of the dance floor. Everything was so surreal – she felt more like she was dreaming.

"Come on!" Jess exclaimed, taking Emily's hand and leading her to the floor, clearing a path through the crowds.

She glanced helplessly back at Matt, who grinned and followed leisurely before heading to the bar and ordering six whiskeys.

Emily had no idea what to do and simply tried to follow Jess' dancing, though she reckoned she looked pretty stupid next to the young girl who had probably been clubbing for many years now. Still, eventually she stopped being so self-conscious and enjoying herself. It helped to have Matt dancing with her.

He was just as inexperienced and had begun the night awkwardly shifting from foot to foot, boogying like an old man at a wedding. But even he was better than Becker who sat in one of the booths at the side of the floor watching them and tapping his foot. When Jess called him over to the floor, he would come but only to stand and twirl her around. Abby and Connor were better maybe, but even they couldn't top Jess' enthusiasm. It was physically tiring just to be around her.

By the end of the evening though, both Matt and Emily had adjusted to dancing and clubbing as well as their eyes had to the dim lighting. They still didn't like to dance in front of other people and didn't think they would return to the club unless Jess managed to persuade or bribe them again, but they had more fun than they predicted.

Matt was drunk like he wanted to be on his country's festive holiday and nothing could beat the high Emily felt from the energetic dancing and lights and atmosphere.

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><p><strong>AN: I thought I'd be a bit nicer to Emily in this one so I made it a positive experience for both her and Matt. I'd love to know what you thought and sorry, again, for not writing or updating sooner. **


	27. Superhero

**A/N: As prompted by my best friend, Sarcastic-Bones:**

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><p><strong>Superhero<strong>

"So if you're thinking of watching Marvel, you've got Daredevil, Elektra, Fantastic Four, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Spider-man, Spider-man 2 and Spider-man 3, X-Men, X2 and X-Men: the Last Stand, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: the First Avenger, Ghostrider…" Connor told them, checking off the films on his fingers. "That's not forgetting about DC where there's the Superman and Batman films…" Connor continued. "And of course there's always the comics too…"

"I think we get the picture, Connor," Matt interrupted whilst Emily deliberated over the numerous DVDs and Blu-rays Connor had stacked on their coffee table.

"Righto."

"Thanks for the films, mate," Matt told him, steering Connor towards the door before he could influence Emily further. As much as he loved her and liked Connor, he didn't think he could cope with constantly being around _two _nerds.

"Not a problem," Connor replied, oblivious to Matt's aim of pushing him out the front door. "Just can't believe neither of you haven't seen a superhero movie-" Before he could finish his sentence, Matt had firmly shut the door and leaned against it to stop the science genius getting back in.

Whilst Matt pressed his ear against the door to make sure Connor had gone, Emily silently mused which of the films they ought to watch first. Obviously they didn't want to watch Spider-Man 2 without having already seen the first one, but that still left at least nine films to choose from and they all looked equally odd.

She just couldn't get her head around why these men wanted to wear tights. It wasn't particularly becoming, really. And why did one person have a red skull? It wasn't very realistic, was it?

"I think he's gone," Matt murmured, although he might as well have been talking to himself for all Emily heard.

"Nope, still here," Connor called loudly from the other side of the door.

"Damn," Matt hissed. Sighing, he simply bolted the door and returned to the sofa, lounging with his feet on the coffee table.

Finally, Emily resorted to randomly picking a film by closing her eyes and having Matt rearrange them. Then she pointed at one and they wound up watching Captain America in the end.

Despite his inhibitions, Matt found himself actually enjoying the film. The fact that it was set during World War II added to his enthrallment and he knew that he could convince Becker to watch it just by telling him about the weaponry the Nazis had developed, rather than, as Connor had done, talking about military experiments.

Emily couldn't help but root for Peggy and Steve's romance but gasped aloud when the British woman fired her gun at Captain Rogers, although dimly, in the back of her mind, she couldn't stop thinking that perhaps he deserved it after kissing another woman.

By the end of the film, her tears were flowing thickly and Matt had pulled her into his side, an arm wrapped protectively about her shoulders. For the fate that had befallen Steve and Peggy was something that could happen to them at any time. Freezing in a block of ice was unlikely, but living in different time periods after being separated by an anomaly was entirely possible.

Later that night, when they had gone to bed Emily found herself dreaming. Of course, she wasn't aware of that until she woke up, but Matt knew from the way she sighed and burrowed her head deeper into the gap between his shoulder blades.

_In her mind, Emily had found herself falling fast through the air after jumping, or perhaps being pushed from a skyscraper. Her scream was endless as the pavement rushed up to meet her. Her eyes were closed awaiting the impact, but it never came. Instead, she could feel the solid arms of someone underneath her, the ripples of muscle of a large chest against her side. _

_Opening her eyes, she found herself face to face with Matt. _

"_Matt?"_

"_Sorry?" he asked, grinning down at her with shining teeth. "I think you must have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Tree Man, here to rescue you from the evil Bombardier Torch!"_

_Emily widened her eyes and looked down, for the first time taking in his green tights and tight-fitting black shirt. Behind him fluttered a forest green cape, and his face was obscured by a black mask bearing the initials TM, but Emily would have recognised Matt's eyes anywhere. _

_As the tree that had suddenly sprung up underneath her shrank back into the earth, leaving a crack in the pavement, Emily felt Matt's hands tighten around her knees and back. He was careful to set her on the ground and then stand in front of her as a shield to the fireball that was soaring towards them. _

"_Bombardier Torch! Show yourself," Matt called bravely, puffing out his chest. _

_The apparent field of invisibility dropped, revealing what looked like an actual person on fire floating in the sky on a metal disc. Emily gasped and grabbed Matt's hand, fearing for him. _

_Despite his obvious ability to grow plants whenever and wherever he wanted, he seemed so outmatched by Bombardier Torch. _

_He shrugged out of her grip and reassured her with a grin. _

"_You will never kill Miss Merchant – I will always be here to stop you," he declared. _

"_On the Mayor's payroll now, are you?" Bombardier Torch leered. _

_Glaring, Matt/Tree Man caused another large tree – an oak this time – to sprout in the middle of the road. As agile as a monkey, he scrambled up wards and along one of the boughs towards the villainous fire man. _

"_Leave before I make you!"_

"_What are you going to do? Uproot me?" joked Bombardier Torch. _

_Without a word, Tree Man closed his eyes and concentrated hard. A single bird began to tweet and then the tune was taken up by five more, then ten, then twenty, until over one hundred birds had flocked to the centre of London, circling the tree. With Tree Man's whistle, they all turned in mid-flight and shot towards Bombardier Torch, releasing hoards of seeds from their beaks and pecking his flesh. _

_Under the barrage, Bombardier Torch could no longer control his levitation disc and it's flight stuttered, dropping three feet, stabilising for a few moments and then falling again. Finally it crashed into the ground, steam pirouetting out of it and sparks skittering across the tarmac from it. Flames soon followed and Bombardier Torch was forced to retreat, running to evade the police that drove down the road with blaring sirens before skidding to a stop._

_Emily watched from afar as the police cuffed his against one of the cars and unceremoniously shoved him into the backseat, his flaming suit doused. Before she knew it Tree Man was standing in front of her. _

"_I should get you back to your father…" he muttered. _

_Emily allowed him to pick her up again and then climbed back up the tree, just as dextrously as before. She lurched as one of the long roots came through the ground and then slammed down again a pace ahead. She could hardly believe her eyes – the tree was moving. _

_It wasn't long before they were back at the city hall. _

_Tree Man helped Emily climb down and then escorted her to her father's office where they both knew he would be hard at work. _

"_Well…this is it," Tree Man murmured. _

_She nodded, suddenly aware of their proximity. He looked down at her, his eyes intense as though he too realised how close together they were. _

_Inexplicably shy, Emily quietly said goodbye and turned to enter the office. Before she could, Tree Man reached out to her, his fingers gripping her wrist and spinning her around. Her fingers splayed over his pectorals and his arm came about her waist holding her to him as his lips met hers. _

Emily woke with a gasp, blushing furiously.

Matt turned to her. "Nice dream?"

"I suppose…"

"Tell me about it," he requested.

Embarrassed, Emily shook her head in refusal. There was no way she would ever willingly reveal to Matt what she had dreamt about. Although it had been pleasant, he would never cease mocking her over it, even if he was her hero in real life anyway.

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><p><strong>AN: And now my secret is out. Yeah, if you hadn't guessed from this chapter, I'm a massive superhero nerd… :P Apologies if you don't like that kind of thing, but this will be the only chapter like this anyway. I hope you liked it. Just remember to let me know what you thought. Also if anyone wanted to see Captain America and hasn't yet, I apologise for any spoilers that may be here. **


	28. Holiday of a Lifetime

**A/N: Sorry for not updating on Sunday like I usually do. To cut a long story short, I had to work extra hours at work because my department is two people short, so didn't have enough time to write this and get it uploaded. I'd really like to thank SAndyLeePotts for her help with this chapter and for suggesting it. I hope you all like it. Let me know what you think!**

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><p><strong>Holiday of a Lifetime<strong>

"So where are you going on the honeymoon? Do you know yet?" Jess demanded, her voice even higher in pitch than usual.

Emily nodded and replied, "Matt's taking me to India, of all places! It's so far away, I'm sure it'll take us ages to get there."

"Probably about twelve hours," Abby murmured, looking up from her magazine and setting it aside, feeling slightly guilty. It was their last chance to see Emily before she and Matt left, and she was too busy reading about the latest celebrity gossip to say goodbye.

Emily frowned.

"On an aeroplane," Jess added, hoping that that would clear things up a bit for Emily.

Her expression brightened. "Well that's definitely an improvement on the months it took by ship when Queen Victoria was Empress of India."

Abby and Jess nodded.

Matt staggered into their living room, laden with two suitcases and three bags over his back.

"Well, we'd best be off. Thanks for watching the house," he told Jess and Abby.

"No problem," Jess answered. "This way we won't be in the way of Connor's on-going inventions."

Emily smiled and drew her two friends into a hug.

"See you in three weeks' time," they told her.

She nodded and followed Matt out. She offered to help him by taking a bag or two but he wouldn't have it. He even insisted on opening the taxi door for her after he had manhandled their luggage into the boot. They had so much that they still had to sit with two of the bags – the handheld luggage – at their feet.

The taxi driver was filled with questions as he drove them to Heathrow Airport, but eventually they unloaded their suitcases onto a trolley and made their way through the terminal building.

They had another hour's wait before being allowed onto the plane, but Emily was able to pass the time by watching the planes taking off and landing, baffled by how such large, metal contraptions were able to defy the laws of gravity.

By the time she was boarding though, the excitement had long since disappeared and she was filled with nerves.

What if the plane broke? Surely things could go wrong all the time. She should have used the ARC systems to search aeroplane accidents, she thought regretfully.

"Matt, I don't think I can do this," she whispered as the queue to get on the plane continued to move forwards.

"Sure you can," he told her.

"I really can't. Did I tell you I was scared of heights?"

"You're not scared of heights," he scoffed. The first time he'd met her, she'd shown no fear at standing on top of a London skyscraper.

"Maybe not," she conceded. "But I still can't get on the plane."

"Why not?"

"I'm worried it's going to crash and we'll all die," she blurted.

Matt's eyes widened in disbelief. Statistically she was more likely to die in a dinosaur attack at work.

"It'll be fine. Those things hardly ever happen."

"But they _do _happen _sometimes_, don't they?"

"Well…yeah…but they check everything more thoroughly now…" Matt replied, trying to reassure her.

It seemed to work, or perhaps she was momentarily distracted from her fear when they arrived at the front of the queue and handed over their tickets to the flight attendants, who then showed them onto the plane and to their seats.

"Do you want the window seat?" Matt asked unthinkingly.

"No-"

"-Right, sorry, stupid question. I'll take the window," he muttered, squeezing past her and stowing his carry-on bag in the overhead storage. He took her bag and stored it up there too then sat down in the seat next to the window.

Emily tried to take her seat beside him as calmly as possible, but her heart was hammering against her ribcage.

When the passengers were all finally loaded onto the plane, she began to relax as the attendants ran through the safety procedures, only to return to panic mode the moment the engines rumbled to life and the seatbelt sign flashed on. Matt took her hand and gripped it tightly in support, though he felt like his fingers were being drained of life by her too-tight hold.

Emily had her eyes closed whilst the plane took off, but once it began to level out Matt told her to look out the window where wisps of clouds looked like white candy floss. The beauty of the view finally made her heartbeat settle, and she couldn't help wishing she had accepted Matt's offer of the window seat. It was just awkward to keep leaning around him.

Somewhere over Europe, she drifted off to sleep, leaving Matt to continue looking out the window. Occasionally, he would glance at her sleeping face just to make sure she was still peaceful and find himself staring at her for minutes at a time.

A flight attendant, seeing her sleeping, carefully laid a blanket over Emily and asked Matt if he would perhaps like a drink or something to eat.

When Emily finally woke up, Matt was into his second packet of crisps and had already drunk the carton juice he had bought for her as well as his own bottle of water.

She rolled her eyes and stretched before turning on the TV screen set into the back of the chair in front of her.

Immediately the flight information appeared on the screen, giving her a shock. They were at 35,000 feet and still rising. Not only that, but they had been flying for four hours.

She skipped to another channel and found a film. The headphones she needed to watch it were already plugged in, so she put them on and found herself watching Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

That passed a couple of hours or so, and then in the night hours, she slept again, this time only waking as Matt shook her to tell her they had arrived.

As soon as she stepped off the plane, she felt the heat and was glad that she'd worn a light short-sleeved shirt and shorts. Matt, on the other hand, was more uncomfortable in his jeans and checked, flannel shirt.

Whilst they waited for their luggage in the terminal building, the pair of them perused tourist brochures and tried to decide where they would go and what they would do whilst they were in India. A visit to the Taj Mahal had been included in the holiday package, but the rest of the holiday was free for them to do whatever they wanted. Matt was sure, however, that being a woman, Emily would love to go and do some shopping at a local market.

So after spending the first day and night in their hotel – a luxurious five-star room, paid for courtesy of the Minister – they headed out onto the streets which bustled with life. At the first market stall, Emily stopped to run her hand over the bright and colourful materials hanging up.

With eager eyes, she pulled one down and held it up against her skin.

"Matt?"

Restraining the urge to roll his eyes, Matt paid the lady and led the way on as Emily wrapped the aqua coloured material about her neck and head.

Matt was the next to stop, buying some seeds and spices for cooking at home. He was also eager to try and grow some of the plants back at the ARC.

Emily also managed to get Matt to buy a green sari for her and a kurta and shalwar for himself. When they returned to the Hotel, she convinced him to try his purchases on. The amber kurta fell to his knees, allowing the bottoms of his blue shalwar to show. Whilst he didn't look completely ridiculous, as Matt had feared, it was a little bit odd to see him dressed in such bright colours, let alone anything other than his standard jeans and shirt.

"Keep up your end of the deal, remember," Matt told Emily, moving out of the doorway so that she could enter the bedroom and dress herself in the sari he had bought for her.

However, after several minutes trying, it became clear to Emily that she would not be able to wrap the sari without some help and direction. Following a phone call to the reception desk, a maid was sent to help and Emily was finally dressed with her aqua scarf draped over the top of her head like a hood to throw in some more colour.

When she emerged from the bedroom, Emily twirled, the bottom of the skirt flying out slightly.

As she spun, Matt caught her hand and stepped closer, slipping his other arm behind her back and pulling her close. Without music, he waltzed them around their suite.

"Fancy going out for dinner?"

She nodded, kissed him briefly and stepped away, holding out her hand.

With interlocked hands, they strolled out of the hotel again, deciding that they wanted to experience the real India by eating out rather than in the hotel restaurant. They found a small curry house not too far away and were given a table for two almost immediately.

The waiter came over and took their drinks order.

Not wanting anything fancy, Emily requested a glass of tap-water, having seen people in the UK requesting free tap water rather than paying for bottled water.

It was a good thing she only ordered water. The curry she ended up eating, despite being labelled as medium; not hot, was the spiciest thing she'd ever eaten. After every mouthful, she felt like her mouth was on fire and even the water did little to quench it.

When they returned to the hotel, she was full but couldn't help noticing the thin sheen of sweat covering her entire body. Attributing it to the spiciness of the food, she simply headed to bed. However, she woke in the middle of the night and had to run to the bathroom to throw up.

Feeling the shift in movement beside him, Matt too was awake quick enough to hear what sounded like Emily hurling her entire meal into the toilet. Her padded barefoot to the bathroom, and rubbed her back, trying to help. She was warm to the touch and covered in sweat.

Worried, Matt felt her forehead and only just moved in time to avoid being caught in the line of her fire.

"Sorry," she moaned.

"S'okay," he yawned, taking a sitting position beside her, ready to wait out the night if needs be. But after another five minutes of her continued sickness, Matt was on his feet pacing. His worry defeated Emily's protests and he phoned down reception to request some sort of medical help.

It was another twenty minutes before help arrived, during which time Emily began to tremble and shiver.

The doctor asked Matt exactly what Emily had eaten and drank the past few days and what they had done.

But in his state of panic, Matt forgot about the water.

"Water," Emily croaked.

Without thinking Matt filled a glass with water and handed it to Emily.

"No," she tried again. "I drank tap water at the restaurant."

The doctor nodded.

"The water here isn't as pure as that of England. Likely, you were given untreated water. It'll take a few days but there won't be any serious consequences other than the current sickness you are experiencing if you take these antibiotics. Any symptoms should clear up in a few days as we've caught it early."

"Thanks," Matt said, showing out the doctor.

Bedridden, Emily didn't enjoy the three days of sickness, tremors, temperature fluctuations and diarrhoea.

When she was finally well enough, Emily was desperate to get out and about and find something fun to do. And Matt had come up with the perfect plan.

Blindfolding her with her scarf, he took her out of the hotel and got her into a taxi.

He kept her in the dark, despite her continuous questions, right until the time came for her to board. He thought it might be hard to get her onto the elephant whilst she still had a blindfold on, so he removed it and enjoyed her gasp of joy at the sight of the animal.

Abby would certainly be jealous, he thought.

Even able to see, it was still a struggle for Emily to climb onto the elephant. She finally managed it after a shove on the bottom from Matt and Jala – the elephant – lifted her front leg.

Matt quickly snapped a picture to show everyone back at the ARC and set about trying to find his own path to the elephant's back. Soon her was sat behind Emily, holding onto her waist and they were off, enjoying a ride on an elephant.

From the back of Jala, they saw much of India, going on a tour of sorts.

When they arrived back at the hotel, the camera was almost full.

They spent the last two weeks relaxing in the hotel spa and simply exploring the local community then went out to see the Taj Mahal.

They were given a talk on the history of the monument, the Mausoleum that was built by one of the Mogul emperors for his beloved wife. When they learned that Bentinck, one of the Governor-Generals of the East India Company had planned to tear the marble structure down, Emily only commented, "I'm not surprised. Always was a nasty chap."

Matt sniggered and kissed the side of her head.

They explored as much of the monument as was allowed and then had their photo taken in front of it.

It was rather fitting way to end their honeymoon, considering the Taj Mahal was a monument of love.

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><p><strong>AN: I'm shocked by the length of this one! I hope I did a good job. Just a quick little thing: I don't know anything at all about what happens when you drink untreated water and how it's treated – this was all just guess work. When I was writing the chapter, my internet randomly decided to die – literally I couldn't even get onto Google! (Sad times) So I just kind of guessed. Thanks to those of you who reviewed the last chapter. Let me know what you thought of this one!**


	29. That Happily Ever After

**A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for my lack of updating of this story recently. I had some problems with my laptop a few weeks ago and have been busy putting everything back onto my harddrive. I was going to keep this story going for longer, but I've decided to have this be the last chapter for two reasons: one I found it hard to get back into writing it, and two there are other projects I'd like to work on. I would like to thank you all for reading and reviewing. It's been a pleasure to write this story and I hope you've loved every second of it. As always, I'd love to know what you think about this chapter, so if you've got time leave a review. It isn't a first, per se, but an end of sorts of Emily being so out-of-sync with the rest of the modern world, and a link in to some of later-set chapters. It is, however, quite a bit shorter than I would have liked it to be.  
><strong>

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><p><strong>That Happily Ever After<strong>

The 21st century had a lot of gadgets. Some of them, Emily got to grips with through working at the ARC – being able to use phones, cars, guns, computers, the locking mechanism, GPS, the dating calculator and the comms were all essential parts of the job.

CD players and iPods were quite simple to work too and Emily loved using them once she knew how. They were great for parties as well as when she was working out in the ARC gym.

It was the camera she loved the most. Once she took that first shot, she was addicted to it. She had to take the perfect picture. The walls of the flat she and Matt shared were filled with prints. There were ones of Matt trying to hide from the camera or pulling stupid faces. There were ones of their friends at the ARC, all of them standing together after a successful job. There were photos of holidays, photos of Tiddles the cat, photos of beautiful places. There were wedding shots, happy occasions.

Looking at the walls, it was like seeing life unfold before your very eyes, Emily thought. When Robert was born, she was quick to snap pictures of him too. There were ones of him soundly sleeping, ones of him awake and staring at the camera, gurgling and smiling. There were photos of him with Matt, photos Matt had taken of Robert and Emily. There were even pictures of Robert with the rest of the team. Somehow someone had managed to catch Lester bouncing the baby boy on his knee. His first Christmas was recorded in prints too. That year he was given his own miniature black security vest by his Uncle Becker, along with some baby booties by his Auntie Jess and he was wearing them in the pictures.

"Perhaps you should cut back a bit on the pictures," Matt suggested one afternoon as he stuck up the latest set of prints. It was costing them a fortune in all the photo paper and ink for the printer. "We're going to run out of wall space soon."

"Perhaps we should get a bigger flat," Emily murmured in reply as she deposited Robert, who was now a toddler, onto his playmat.

"There is nothing bigger than a flat. Well except a house, but that would be too big for just the three of us."

Emily nodded slowly. "Well, except it might not always be just the three of us…"

She waited a few moments for the penny to drop.

"Are…Are you saying that…that you're pregnant again?" Matt asked, feeling numb with shock.

Emily smiled and nodded, watching as Matt rushed forwards and lifted her into the air.

"House it is," he confirmed. "Ready to start hunting for one?"

A few days later, Matt returned from the estate agent's with a collection of papers in his hands. Emily and he sat down together, going through the houses and deciding which ones they would go and see.

It took months for them to find the right house but once they did it was perfect. There was a large garden for Robert and, when he or she came along, his brother or sister to play in. The house itself had three rooms and a study that could be converted if needed. White-washed, it had ivory scaling the walls and really seemed to fit the family.

Moving in took a week, but once they were settled it was marvellous. In those summer months Emily was on maternity leave, she would sit in the garden teaching and playing with Robert. Matt installed a swing in the back garden and a sand pit too, which Robert seemed to spend all his time in.

When Emily finally gave birth to Lily, one of the bedrooms was already an active nursery and Matt was able to take a few days off to spend with his family. The four of them were sitting outside on one sunny day, Emily rubbing sun cream into Robert's face. Whilst Matt took Robert out and played with him with one of those plants that randomly sprayed water, Emily took a picture on her camera of Lily, sleeping under a parasol on a picnic blanket.

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><p><strong>AN: So what did you think? Again, a quick thanks for reading and reviewing this story!  
><strong>


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